The Ministry of Data and Statistics on May 27 in a population trend report for the first quarter said the number of births hit 75,013, the highest for the period in seven years. (iClickArt) Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution of this image is prohibited under copyright law.

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

The number of births in the first quarter exceeded 75,000, the highest since 83,030 in the same period of 2019.

The Ministry of Data and Statistics on May 27 said this in a population trend report for March, with the number of births in the quarter reaching 75,013, up 9,651 or 14.8% year on year.

The total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, inched up 12 tenths of a point to 0.95, the highest since 2019.

The number of marriages also showed notable recovery with 62,309, up 3,609 or 6.1% and the highest since 66,151 in the same quarter of 2018. The number of divorces fell 0.9% (183) to 21,289.

The country's natural population decline appeared to ease. The number of deaths in the first quarter fell 7.6% (7,608) to 93,050 but because the figure exceeded that of births, the net population decline was 18,037.

aisylu@korea.kr