South Korea birthrate rises for the first time in nine years

South Korea’s birthrate, the lowest in the world, rose in 2024 for the first time in nine years, as policy efforts to incentivise companies and Koreans to embrace parenthood started to pay off.

Due to the rising cost of housing and raising a child, the nation’s population of 51 million is projected to shrink by half by the end of the century, as women had seen their birthrate decline over the previous ten years.

In 2024, South Korea’s fertility rate rose to 0.75 children per woman from 0.72 in 2023, after eight consecutive years of decline&nbsp, from 1.24 in 2015. According to Statistics Korea, the crude birthrate, or the percentage of babies born per 1,000 people, was 4.7, breaking a downward trend that has existed since 2014.

The rise was reflected by increased marriages as a result of government regulations governing childcare, housing, and work-family balance.

“There was a change in social value, with more positive views about marriage and childbirth”, Park Hyun-jung, an official at Statistics Korea, told a news briefing, also citing the effect of a rise in the number of people in their early 30s and pandemic delays.

Each factor had an impact on each other, according to Park, but it’s difficult to determine how much each contributed to the rise in new births.

Yoon Suk-yeol, the now-impeached president, proposed a new ministry last year that would focus on addressing the “national demographic crisis,” aiming for a more inclusive approach than previous years’ less effective cash-focused support.

Employees are now paid 100% of their salary for up to six months if both parents take parental leave, as opposed to a maximum of three months earlier, according to new policy changes.

Additionally, the maximum period was extended to one and a half years, from one year, if both parents take leave.

Starting this year, the government will require listed companies to include their child-related statistics in regulatory filings, along with funding for small and medium-sized businesses.