The Ministry of Data and Statistics on June 24 released a report on April population trends showing that the number of births that month reached 24,521. Shown are newborns at a public postpartum care center in Suncheon, Jeollanam-do Province. (Jeollanam-do Province)

By Margareth Theresia

The number of babies born in April rose 18% year on year, the highest rise on record for the month.

The cumulative number of births from January to April also approached 100,000, the highest figure in seven years.

The Ministry of Data and Statistics on June 24 released a report on population trends in April showing that the number of births that month reached 24,521, up 18% or 3,734 year on year.

The total fertility rate, or the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, was 0.93 in April, up 0.13 from the same month last year.

The cumulative number of births betwen January and April was 99,534, up 15.5% year on year and the biggest increase for the period since 2019.

The number of marriages, a leading indicator of a rise in births, in April also grew 9% (1,703) to 20,622 year on year.

The number of deaths in April declined 1.3% to 28,405. Because the number of deaths surpassed that of births, the population saw a net loss of 3,884 people.

margareth@korea.kr