Number of Births Surpasses 25,000 After Hitting Bottom... Highest in Seven Years

March Population Trends Announced by Ministry of Data and Statistics

Increase in Marriages and Effect of Early 30s Demographic

The number of births in March exceeded 25,000, marking the highest figure in seven years. After dropping below 20,000 in 2024 and hitting a low, the number of newborns has sharply increased for the second consecutive year, driven by a rise in marriages and the demographic effect of an expanding population in the early 30s age group. The cumulative total fertility rate for the first quarter (January to March) also approached 1.0, reaching 0.95 children per woman.

According to the "March Population Trends" announced by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on May 27, the provisional number of births in March was tallied at 25,200. This is an increase of 4,088 (19.4%) compared to one year ago. It is also the highest March-on-March growth rate since statistics began in 1981.

On a quarterly basis, the rebound is also clear. The cumulative number of births in the first quarter reached 75,013, up by 9,651 (14.8%) from the previous year. This also marks the highest first-quarter growth rate on record. Registering the highest number of births in seven years since 2019 (83,030), the figure has now recovered to the level last seen in 2020 (73,595).

The total fertility rate (the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime) was 0.93 in March, an increase of 0.15 compared to the same period last year. The rate has exceeded 0.9 for three consecutive months: 0.99 in January, 0.93 in February, and again 0.93 in March. The cumulative total fertility rate for March was 0.95, up by 0.12 from last year (0.83). If this trend continues, the annual total fertility rate for this year may exceed last year's figure (0.80), possibly reaching 0.9.

The increase in births is attributed to three main factors: a recent two-year rise in marriages, expansion of the fertility rate among women in their early 30s, and a rise in births among those in their late 30s. According to the first quarter "age-specific fertility rate" (number of births per 1,000 women in each age group), the rate for women aged 30 to 34 was 88.5, up by 11.3 compared to the same period last year. For women aged 35 to 39, the rate was 62.4, an increase of 9.0. While the upward trend in marriages continues, it has somewhat slowed. The number of marriages in the first quarter of this year was 62,309, a rise of 6.1% over the previous year, though this is lower than the 8.4% increase seen in the same period last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.