South Korea now has a quarter of the babies it had in 1971
Annual live births in South Korea, thousands, 1970–2025. 2025 is provisional.
Births fell from 1,024,773 at the 1971 peak to 230,028 in 2023, the record low.
Births per woman rose from the 2023 low to 0.80 in 2025. Replacement is about 2.1.
Two years of rebound took births to 254,457 in 2025. Still a quarter of the peak.
the numbers
| Year | Live births (k) |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 1,007 |
| 1971 | 1,025 |
| 1975 | 874 |
| 1980 | 863 |
| 1981 | 867 |
| 1982 | 848 |
| 1983 | 769 |
| 1984 | 675 |
| 1985 | 656 |
| 1990 | 650 |
| 1995 | 715 |
| 2000 | 640 |
| 2005 | 439 |
| 2010 | 470 |
| 2015 | 438 |
| 2016 | 406 |
| 2017 | 358 |
| 2018 | 327 |
| 2019 | 303 |
| 2020 | 272 |
| 2021 | 261 |
| 2022 | 249 |
| 2023 | 230 |
| 2024 | 238 |
| 2025 | 255 |
source notes & method
1970–2022 from Statistics Korea as tabulated in Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics 2024;67(10) Table 1 (selected years only; no interpolation). 1971 peak (1,024,773) via CEIC citing Statistics Korea. 2023 (230,028) and 2024 final (238,317) and TFR 0.72/0.75 from Statistics Korea via The Korea Times (Aug 2025). 2025 provisional (254,457; TFR 0.80) from the Ministry of Data and Statistics via AP (Feb 2026).
Published 7 Oct 2026
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