170,079 babies born in first seven months of this year, up 14.7% from last year; total fertility rate reaches 0.89 as marriages climb 9.3%, but natural population decline continues

Nurses care for newborns at the neonatal ward of Ilsan Cha Hospital at CHA University in Ilsan Dong-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]
Nurses care for newborns at the neonatal ward of Ilsan Cha Hospital at CHA University in Ilsan Dong-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]

Births in July exceeded 24,000, marking 25 consecutive months of year-on-year gains. The number of babies born in the first seven months of this year surpassed 170,000. The total fertility rate rose to 0.89, but deaths continued to outnumber births, extending the country's natural population decline.

According to the "July 2026 Population Trends" report released Wednesday by the Ministry of Statistics, 24,275 babies were born in July, up 2,421, or 11.1 percent, from the same month last year. Births have now risen year-on-year for 25 consecutive months since July 2024.

The cumulative birth count for January through July reached 170,079, up 21,851, or 14.7 percent, from the same period last year. The July birth growth rate of 11.1 percent was lower than June's 15.6 percent, but the actual number of births — 24,275 — was 1,164 higher than June's 23,111. June births had also risen from the same month a year earlier.

The total fertility rate for July stood at 0.89, up 0.08 from the same month last year and 0.01 from June. Among women aged 30 to 34, births per 1,000 women reached 82.1, up 7.9 from a year earlier. The figure for women aged 35 to 39 rose 8.6 to 61.1. First children accounted for 63.4 percent of all births, up 1.7 percentage points from a year ago.

Marriages totaled 22,282 in July, up 1,890, or 9.3 percent, from the same month last year. The cumulative marriage count for January through July reached 146,656, up 6.1 percent from the same period last year.

Deaths in July numbered 28,921, up 839, or 3.0 percent, from a year earlier. As a result, the natural population change — births minus deaths — came to minus 4,647.

While the scale of natural decline was smaller than the 6,228 recorded in July last year, the cumulative natural population decrease for January through July stood at 37,664. Divorces fell to 7,764, down 59, or 0.8 percent, from the same month last year.


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