The number of births in the first half of this year saw a record-high increase. (iClickArt) (Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution of the above photo is prohibited under copyright law.)

By Koh Hyunjeong

The number of births in the first half of the year rose 7.4% year on year, its highest growth rate since the government began compiling the statistic 44 years ago.

Statistics Korea on Aug. 27 in its population trend report for June said the number of births from January through June was 126,001, up 7.4% or 8,721 and the largest increase since monthly birth statistics were launched in 1981.

The figure in the second quarter saw year-on-year growth of 7.3% to 60,979. The total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman is expected to bear over her lifetime, also rose 0.05 to 0.76 over the same period.

The report credited the rise in births to factors such as growth in the number of marriages since the first quarter of last year, higher population of 30-something women and a shift toward more positive perceptions of childbirth.

hjkoh@korea.kr