Finally, some positive news about South Korea’s birth rates: after a long time as the lowest in the world, birth rates rebounded for the first time since 2015. According to a Bureau of Statistics 통계청 report, South Korea’s 2024 birth rate was 0.75, an increase of 3.6% over 2023.
An analysis by the Bureau of Statistics found an increase in weddings beginning in 2022, following the end of COVID-19 social distancing requirements. The government sees the period between 2025 and 2031 as its last chance to reverse the decline in birth rates: currently, there are fewer women in their 20s than in their 30s.