South Korea’s fertility rate has risen for the first time in nine years, as a surge in marriages after the pandemic spurs hopes that the world’s fastest-ageing society may have turned a corner.
The country’s fertility rate — the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime — increased from 0.72 in 2023 to 0.75 last year, according to the latest data from the national statistics office.
Although the rate remains the lowest in the world and far below the 2.1 needed to ensure a broadly stable population, this is the first rise since 2015, when it was 1.24.
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