South Korea Live Births
South Korea's number of live births was 254,341 in 2025, up 16,024 from 2024. The record low was 230,028 in 2023. By province, Jeonbuk was lowest (4.1 per 1,000 people) and Sejong highest (7.6 per 1,000 people).
1990–2025
Data table
| Year | Live Births |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 254,341 |
| 2024 | 238,317 |
| 2023 | 230,028 |
| 2022 | 249,186 |
| 2021 | 260,562 |
| 2020 | 272,337 |
| 2019 | 302,676 |
| 2018 | 326,822 |
| 2017 | 357,771 |
| 2016 | 406,243 |
| 2015 | 438,420 |
| 2014 | 435,435 |
| 2013 | 436,455 |
| 2012 | 484,550 |
| 2011 | 471,265 |
| 2010 | 470,171 |
| 2009 | 444,849 |
| 2008 | 465,892 |
| 2007 | 496,822 |
| 2006 | 451,759 |
| 2005 | 438,707 |
| 2004 | 476,958 |
| 2003 | 495,036 |
| 2002 | 496,911 |
| 2001 | 559,934 |
| 2000 | 640,089 |
| 1999 | 620,668 |
| 1998 | 641,594 |
| 1997 | 675,394 |
| 1996 | 691,226 |
| 1995 | 715,020 |
| 1994 | 721,185 |
| 1993 | 715,826 |
| 1992 | 730,678 |
| 1991 | 709,275 |
| 1990 | 649,738 |
By province, 2025 (per 1,000 people)
Data table
| Province | Live Births, per 1,000 people |
|---|---|
| Sejong | 7.6 |
| Gyeonggi | 5.6 |
| Incheon | 5.5 |
| Daejeon | 5.3 |
| North Chungcheong | 5.2 |
| Ulsan | 5.1 |
| Jeju | 4.9 |
| South Jeolla | 4.9 |
| Seoul | 4.9 |
| South Chungcheong | 4.8 |
| Gwangju | 4.7 |
| Daegu | 4.6 |
| Gangwon | 4.4 |
| South Gyeongsang | 4.3 |
| Busan | 4.3 |
| North Gyeongsang | 4.1 |
| Jeonbuk | 4.1 |
Context
Live births count every baby born alive in South Korea in a given year, as registered with the government. Unlike the fertility rate, this number depends both on how many children each woman has and on how many women are of childbearing age.
Around 650,000 babies were born in 1990. By 2010 the number had fallen to about 470,000, and it kept falling almost every year after that, bottoming out at 230,028 in 2023 — roughly a third of the 1990 level.
Births rose in 2024 and again in 2025, when 254,341 babies were born, up 6.7% on the year. The increase is tied to more marriages after the pandemic and a relatively large generation born in the early 1990s now in their early thirties. Because that generation will soon be followed by much smaller ones, the number of potential parents is set to shrink in the years ahead.