The number of newborns in April expanded from a year earlier, ending an 18-month streak of on-year decline.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, 19-thousand-49 babies were born in April, up two-point-eight percent from the same month in 2023, posting the first on-year hike since September 2022. The monthly tally, however, was the second lowest for April.
 
An official at the state agency has cited a base effect from the number of newborns last April having dropped by 12-point-five percent, as well as a rise in the number of marriages for eight straight months from August 2022.

The crude birth rate, the annual number of live births per one-thousand population, also rose to four-point-six.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths in April rose four percent on-year to 28-thousand-659, resulting in a natural population decline of nine-thousand-610.