Over 120,000 Babies Born by May This Year... Highest in Seven Years

Ministry of Data and Statistics Announces May Population Trends on the 29th
Deaths Also Hit Highest Level Due to Heat Waves and Temperature Swings
Surge in Home Sales Drives Highest Population Movement in Five Years

The number of babies born from January to May this year has surpassed 120,000, marking the highest figure in seven years. The birth growth rate reached its all-time high for both the monthly figure in May and the cumulative total from January to May. Meanwhile, the number of deaths in May was also the highest ever recorded for that month. Early heat waves and large daily temperature fluctuations are cited as the reasons.

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According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics’ “May Population Trends” released on July 29, the number of births in May 2026 was 23,160, up 2,781 (13.6%) from a year earlier. The number of newborns has increased for 23 consecutive months since July 2024. For May, it was the highest since 2019 (25,299) in seven years. The rate of increase in May was also the highest since statistics were first compiled in 1981.

Between January and May this year, a cumulative total of 122,694 babies were born. This was an increase of 16,166 (15.2%) compared to one year ago. It was the highest figure since 2019 (134,433). The total fertility rate for May (the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime) was 0.85, up 0.10 from a year earlier.

In terms of the composition of births, first-borns accounted for 63.0%, a rise of 1.3 percentage points. The share of second-borns was 31.7%, down 0.2 percentage points, while third-borns and beyond accounted for 5.3%, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points.

The number of deaths in May was 29,573, marking an increase of 1,091 (3.8%) compared to a year earlier. This was the highest monthly figure for May since death statistics began to be compiled in 1983. A representative from the Ministry of Data and Statistics explained, "Changes in the mortality rate among the oldest segment of the population tend to be influenced by the weather," adding, "In May this year, there were about three more days with a daily temperature range of over 10 degrees Celsius compared to last year, and there was an early heat wave in mid-May."

As a result, the natural population decrease in May was 6,413. However, this is a narrowing decline compared to May 2024 (-8,974) and May 2023 (-8,103).

Marriages, which may hint at a future increase in births, declined. There were 20,368 marriages registered in May, down 1,392 cases (-6.4%) from a year earlier. This marked a reversal after increases in both March and April compared to the same months last year. The Ministry of Data and Statistics analyzed, "Although May typically sees more marriages, the increase in holidays, including Labor Day being designated a public holiday, resulted in fewer days available for marriage registration. When adjusting for the number of days registrations were possible, the figure in fact saw a slight year-on-year increase."

The number of divorces in May was 7,122, down 290 cases (-3.9%) from a year earlier. This is attributed to the effects of previous declines in marriage numbers.

Meanwhile, according to the “June Domestic Population Movement Statistics” also released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics that day, the number of people moving within South Korea last month was the highest for June in five years. There were 481,000 domestic movers last month, an increase of 3,000 (0.6%) year-on-year. This is the highest June figure since 2021 (544,000).

While population movement is projected to decline in the long term due to shrinking numbers among the youth who are most likely to move, it is still influenced in the short term by market conditions such as housing transactions.

The Ministry of Data and Statistics noted that April-May real estate transactions totaled 136,000, an increase of 6.3% compared to the same period last year, which contributed to the rise in the number of moves in June.

Additionally, the Ministry pointed out that the June selection of seven additional counties as pilot areas for the government’s basic income program for rural and fishing communities led to increased inflows of residents to those regions.

Of all people who moved, 65.9% relocated within the same province or metropolitan area (intra-province), while 34.1% moved between provinces or major cities (inter-province). The share of intra-province movers increased by 1.4% compared to the previous year, while inter-province movers decreased by 0.7% year-on-year.

The population mobility rate, which is the number of movers per 100 residents, was 11.5%, up 0.1 percentage point year-on-year. This, too, was the highest for June since 2021 (12.9%).

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