The number of births rose by one-thousand-223 from the previous year in July, marking the 13th consecutive month of increase.

According data Statistics Korea released Wednesday, 21-thousand-803 babies were born in July, up one-thousand-223, or five-point-nine percent, from a year earlier.

Cumulative births in the first seven months of 2025 rose seven-point-two percent on-year to 147-thousand-804, marking the first time in a decade that the January-to-July tally increased from the previous year.

The total fertility rate, or the number of children to which the average woman gives birth in her lifetime, also rose zero-point-04 percent on-year to zero-point-eight.

The agency attributed the rising trend to an increase in marriages, the number of women in currently their early 30s and the government's child support policies.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths in July dropped zero-point-seven percent on-year to 27-thousand-979, but because deaths outnumbered births, the population declined by six-thousand-175.