The number of babies born in May jumped three-point-eight percent year-on-year, continuing an upward streak that began in July 2024.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, 20-thousand-309 babies were born in May, with the figure posting an on-year increase for the eleventh consecutive month.

The cumulative total for the first five months has topped 100,000, up six-point-nine percent from a year a earlier, the biggest growth since the agency began compiling relevant data since 1981.

The agency attributed the trend to an increase in the number of people in their 30s, a rise in marriages after the COVID-19 pandemic, and changing attitudes regarding childbirth.

The total fertility rate, which is the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime, stood at zero-point-75, up zero-point-02 from the same month a year earlier.

Marriages increased four percent on-year, carrying on the positive trend for the 14th straight month as 21-thousand-761 couples tied the knot in May. 

Meanwhile, 28-thousand-510 deaths were recorded in May, similar to last year’s number, resulting in an overall population decline of eight-thousand-202.