SEOUL, May 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's births grew for 21 straight months, showing signs of breaking away from the longstanding trajectory of low birth rate, statistical ministry data showed Wednesday.
The number of newborn babies soared 19.4 percent from a year earlier to 25,200 in March, continuing to rise since July 2024, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
It marked the highest March figure in seven years, recording the fastest growth rate since data began to be compiled.
The total fertility rate, or the number of children a woman is expected to bear during life, added 0.15 to 0.93 in the cited month, but it stayed far below the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman to maintain a stable population.
The number of marriages advanced 10.1 percent to 21,112 in March on a yearly basis, while the number of divorces gained 9.4 percent to 7,884.
The number of deaths increased 1.3 percent to 31,423 in March compared to the same month of last year.
Affected by the still high deaths and low births, the natural population decline stood at 6,224 in the cited month. ■