Births Rise for 26th Straight Month... 23,700 Babies Born in August

In August, the number of births exceeded 23,700, rising 13.0% from the same month a year earlier. Births increased year over year for 26 consecutive months, and cumulative births through August this year also surpassed 190,000. However, deaths outnumbered births, and the population continued to decline naturally.

According to the "August 2026 Population Trends" released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Oct. 28, there were 23,703 births in August, up 2,720 (13.0%) from a year earlier. After falling to the 18,000 range in August 2023, the number of births rose to 20,103 in 2024, 20,983 last year and 23,700 in August this year. Monthly births have increased year over year for 26 consecutive months since July 2024. After rising 15.6% in June and 11.1% in July this year, births also posted double-digit growth in August.

Medical staff care for newborns in the nursery at Ain Hospital in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, on Feb. 27, as Statistics Korea announced that 238,300 babies were born last year, up 8,300 from a year earlier. Feb. 27, 2025. Photo by Kang Jinhyeong.

Cumulative births have also risen sharply this year. From January through August, there were 193,783 births, up 24,572 (14.5%) from 169,211 in the same period last year. Following a 6.7% year-over-year increase in the annual number of births last year, the upward trend has continued this year. The total fertility rate also rose. In August, it was 0.87, up 0.09 from 0.78 in the same month last year. The total fertility rate is the average number of children a woman is expected to have during her childbearing years.

Women in their 30s led the increase in fertility. The birth rate among women aged 30 to 34 was 79.5 per 1,000 women in that age group, up 8.9 from the same month a year earlier. For women aged 35 to 39, it rose by 8.2 to 59.8, while for those aged 25 to 29, it increased by 1.2 to 21.4. By contrast, the rate among women aged 24 and younger fell by 0.3 to 1.8. The trend of births increasing primarily among firstborn children also continued. Firstborns accounted for 63.8% of all births, up 1.6 percentage points from a year earlier. The share of secondborns fell by 1.0 percentage point to 30.5%, while that of thirdborn and later children declined by 0.6 percentage points to 5.7%.

Births continued to increase across regions as well. In August, every city and province recorded more births than in the same month a year earlier. Based on cumulative figures for January through August, Seoul posted the highest growth rate, at 17.6%. Births increased by 16.0% in Daejeon, 15.0% in Busan, 14.8% in Incheon and 15.2% in Gyeonggi. Jeju had the lowest growth rate, at 6.8%.

Marriage, a leading indicator of births, showed a monthly slowdown. There were 19,218 marriages in August, down 224 (1.2%) from the same month a year earlier. However, cumulative marriages from January through August totaled 165,874, up 5.2% from the same period last year. The increase in marriages that began last year may have contributed to the rise in births, although monthly marriage figures fluctuated.

There were 30,308 deaths, up 1,407 (4.9%) from the same month a year earlier. The natural increase, calculated by subtracting deaths from births, was -6,605, as the population continued to decline naturally. However, compared with the natural decrease of 7,918 in August last year, the decline narrowed by 1,313. The cumulative natural decrease from January through August this year totaled 44,269.

According to the "September 2026 Internal Migration Statistics" released the same day, 444,000 people moved within South Korea last month, down 10.1% from the same month a year earlier. The migration rate, defined as the number of people moving per 100 residents, was 10.6%, down 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier. Of all movers, 66.5% moved within the same city or province, while 33.5% moved between cities or provinces.

Incheon had the largest net inflow, with 1,956 people. South Chungcheong Province recorded a net inflow of 1,032 people, and North Chungcheong Province had a net inflow of 830. By contrast, Seoul had a net outflow of 2,359 people, while Jeonnam-Gwangju recorded a net outflow of 531 and Busan a net outflow of 401. In the third quarter, 1.383 million people moved within South Korea, down 158,000 (10.2%) from the same period a year earlier. The migration rate was 10.8%, down 1.2 percentage points. By region, Gyeonggi recorded a net inflow of 10,062 people, Incheon 6,773 and South Chungcheong Province 2,176, while Seoul recorded a net outflow of 11,368.

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