South Korea August Births Rise 13% to Highest August Level Since 2019

South Korea recorded 23,703 births in August 2026, an increase of 13.0% from 20,983 in the same month last year, according to population statistics released on October 28. It was the highest August total since 2019, when 24,371 babies were born.

The increase extended a run of year-on-year gains in births to 26 consecutive months. For January through August, 193,783 babies were born, 14.5% more than during the comparable period in 2025.

The monthly total fertility rate, a measure of expected births per woman based on age-specific rates, rose by 0.09 from a year earlier to 0.87. The figure is still well below the roughly 2.1 births per woman generally associated with population replacement in the absence of migration.

The figures also show that 30,308 people died in August, up 4.9% from a year earlier. Deaths therefore exceeded births by 6,605, meaning the population continued to decline through natural change despite the increase in newborns.

Marriages fell 1.2% year on year in August to 19,218, although the total for the first eight months was higher than a year earlier. Analysts and officials have pointed to previous increases in marriages, the number of people in their thirties and changing attitudes toward family formation as possible contributors to the recent rebound.

The new data describe registered demographic outcomes, not evidence that South Korea's long-term population decline has ended. A sustained recovery would require further gains across multiple years, while the effects of migration and changes in the age structure also matter.