South Korea’s birth rate rises as marriages surge, ending nearly a decade of decline

South Korea's fertility rate rose to 0.75 in 2024, marking the first increase in nine years and potentially signalling an improvement in the nation’s demographic crisis. The rise was supported by an increase in the number of marriages. The new figures came after the government rolled out measures to encourage young people to marry and have children. President Yoon Suk-yeol, who now faces impeachment over an unrelated case, had declared a “national demographic crisis” and unveiled plans to create a new ministry devoted to tackling low birth rates.