About 56-thousand babies were born during the second quarter of this year, slightly more than last year during the same period.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the precise tally was 56-thousand-838, representing an increase of 691 babies, or one-point-two percent, over the second quarter of last year.

It is the first year-over-year increase during any quarter since the fourth quarter of 2015. The statistics agency attributed it to the base effect, explaining that births were low last year and the number of marriages increased after the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the tally for June declined one-point-eight percent year over year to 18-thousand-242 babies. It was the lowest June figure on record for any year, and it ended a two-month-long streak of upward movement. 

Considering the increased number of marriages since the second half of 2022, the agency forecasts that birth figures will go up and down, recording year-over-year gains in some months and losses in others. 

It said the total fertility rate, the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime, could drop further, even dipping below the record low of zero-point-71 seen in the second quarter of this year.