Seoul, Dec 26 (IANS) The number of babies born in South Korea increased by the fastest rate in 14 years in October, data showed on Thursday, as the country is struggling to address the grim demographic changes posed by its ultra-low birth rate and rapid ageing.
According to the data compiled by Statistics Korea, a total of 21,398 babies were born in October, up 13.4 per cent from the 18,878 newborns a year earlier, Yonhap news agency reported.
It marked the largest on-year increase since November 2010, when the number of childbirths grew by 17.5 per cent.
“More couples held weddings from the second half of 2022 through the first half of 2023 after delaying their marriages during the earlier stages of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Im Young-il, an agency official. He also noted an increase in the number of second children.
South Korea has been grappling with a persistent decline in its birth rate, as an increasing number of young people are choosing to delay or avoid marriage and parenthood.
To encourage marriage and improve the fertility rate, the government has rolled out various marriage benefits and support for child care.
The number of deaths, meanwhile, shed 3.2 per cent on-year to 29,819 in October.
Accordingly, South Korea reported a natural population decrease of 8,421 in the month.
The number of deaths has continued to exceed the number of newborns since the fourth quarter of 2019.
The report also showed that the number of couples getting married soared 22.3 per cent on-year to 19,551 in October, marking the highest on-year increase in history.
The number of couples getting divorced decreased 7.8 per cent on-year to 7,300, the data added.
–IANS
rvt/
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
