The number of newborns in July topped 20-thousand for the first time in six months, while the on-year jump reached a 17-year high.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, 20-thousand-601 babies were born in July, up seven-point-nine percent from a year earlier. The monthly tally of newborns had stayed under 20-thousand since reaching 21-thousand-442 in January.

The number of marriages, which affects births, expanded on-year by an all-time high of 32-point-nine percent for July to total 18-thousand-811.

The statistical agency assessed that there had been a base effect from marriages in July gradually declining since 2018, as well as effects from a rise in post-pandemic marriages among people in their early 30s and local governments' increased policy support.

Cumulative births between January and July, however, dropped one-point-two percent on-year to 137-thousand-913, while the crude birth rate in July of the number of live births per one-thousand population rose zero-point-four on-year to four-point-eight.

The number of deaths in July, meanwhile, rose zero-point-four percent, on-year to reach 28-thousand-240, with the population naturally declining by seven-thousand-639.