S. Korea's 2024 fertility rate estimated at 0.75: presidential committee

South Korea is estimated to have recorded a higher-than-expected fertility rate of 0.75 in 2024, a presidential committee said Thursday, signaling a potential rebound in the country's chronically low birth rate, Yonhap reports. 

The total fertility rate, which refers to the average number of expected births per woman in her lifetime, is estimated to have hovered above the previous outlook of 0.74 in 2024, according to the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy.

The figure is still far below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration. The government plans to raise the fertility rate, which came to 0.72 in 2023, to 1 by 2030.

"South Korea's childbirths in 2024 are on track to record their first rebound in nine years," said Joo Hyung-hwan, the committee's vice chairman, noting the number of babies born in 2024 is estimated to have approached 240,000, compared with 230,000 recorded a year earlier.

A total of 20,095 babies were born in November 2024, up 14.6 percent from 17,530 newborns during the same period a year earlier. It marked the largest on-year increase since November 2010.

"In 2025, the government will further bolster the upward momentum to seek a turnaround in low births while building a foundation for a soft landing in addressing a super-aged society," Joo added.

The vice chairman also noted South Korea is expected to have the world's oldest demographic, with seniors making up 37.3 percent of the population in 2045.

In December, government data showed the number of South Koreans aged 65 or older stood at 10.24 million, accounting for 20 percent of the country's total population of 51.22 million.

The United Nations classifies countries where more than 7 percent of the population aged 65 or older as an aging society, those with over 14 percent as an aged society and those with more than 20 percent as a super-aged society.

Earlier it was reported that South Korea’s childbirths rose by the highest rate in 14 years in October last year.