South Korea recorded 254,500 births in 2025, the largest annual increase in 15 years, driven largely by a temporarily enlarged generation – known as “echo boomers” – now in their early thirties, alongside marriage rates recovering from Covid-era delays.

The country’s fertility rate – the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime – rose to 0.80 from 0.75 last year, returning to the 0.8 range for the first time since 2021, according to provisional figures released by South Korea’s ministry of data and statistics on Wednesday.

The 6.8% increase in total births marks the second consecutive annual rise, although deaths exceeded births by 108,900, meaning the population continued to shrink. South Korea remains the only OECD country with a fertility rate below 1.0.

Much of the rebound reflects what demographers describe as the “echo boomer” effect. Roughly 3.6 million children were born between 1991 and 1995, when births briefly rose after the government in effect ended its family planning policy.

That cohort is now in its early thirties, the age at which birth rates are highest. Women in their early thirties numbered an estimated 1.7 million in 2025, up 9% from 2020.

Park Hyun-jung, the director of the population trends division at the ministry, said the increase reflected the demographic effect, alongside sustained growth in marriages as Covid-era delays unwound and improving attitudes toward having children.

Government survey data showed the share of respondents intending to have children after marriage rose 3.1% between 2022 and 2024.

Births within two years of marriage increased 10.2%, continuing a recovery that began in 2024 after more than a decade of decline, suggesting couples marrying later may be bringing forward childbirth.

Demographers caution that this demographic tailwind is likely to fade from 2027 as smaller post-1996 cohorts move into their thirties.

Asked whether government policy contributed to the growth in birthrate, Park said she “cannot clearly analyse the correlation”, though she noted that young people appeared to be influenced by policies aimed at “removing penalties from marriage and childbirth”.

South Korea has spent hundreds of billions of dollars over two decades on pro-natal measures, including generous cash handouts, housing subsidies, extended parental leave and childcare support. Some corporations now offer up to 100 million won (£51,500) per birth.

However, experts cite persistently high housing costs, soaring private education spending, workplace stigma against parents and stagnant youth employment as structural barriers that policy has struggled to overcome.

At the same time, the infrastructure supporting childbirth has continued to shrink.

Paediatric clinics are closing faster than they open, while many municipalities now lack adequate delivery facilities, reflecting the long-term effects of years of ultra-low births.

Final confirmed figures will be released in August.