Seoul, Nov 27 : The number of babies born in South Korea increased by the largest margin in almost 14 years in September, data showed on Wednesday, as the country is struggling to address the grim demographic changes of ultra-low birth rate and rapid ageing.

According to data compiled by Statistics Korea, a total of 20,590 babies were born in September, up 10.1 per cent, or 1,884 newborns, from a year earlier, Yonhap news agency said.

It marked the largest on-year increase since January 2011, when the number of childbirths grew by 10.8 per cent.

"The increase is attributed to more couples holding weddings from the second half of 2022 through the first half of 2023 after delaying their marriages during the earlier stages of the Covid-19 pandemic," Im Young-il, an agency official, told a press briefing.

For the third quarter of this year, a total of 61,288 babies were born, up 8 per cent from the same period last year, the agency said. The reading also marks the largest quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2012.

The total fertility rate, which refers to the average number of expected births per woman in her lifetime, came to 0.76 in the third quarter. For the January-September period, the rate came to 0.74.

The nine-month figure is higher than the 0.72 recorded for the whole year of 2023, which marked the lowest level since 1970.

"There is a high possibility that the total fertility rate for the whole of 2024 may hover above 0.72 and even reach around 0.74 if the current trend continues throughout the fourth quarter," Young-il said.

"However, it is too early to say that the figure is a rebound as it is still too low compared to other countries."

The figure is also far below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration.

South Korea has been grappling with a persistent decline in its birth rate, as an increasing number of young people are choosing to delay or avoid marriage and parenthood.

To encourage marriage and improve the fertility rate, the government has rolled out various marriage benefits and support for child care.

The number of deaths, meanwhile, increased 3.8 per cent on-year to 29,362 in September.

Accordingly, South Korea reported a natural population decrease of 8,772 in the month.

The number of deaths has continued to exceed the number of newborns since the fourth quarter of 2019.

The report also showed that the number of couples getting married soared 18.8 per cent on-year to 15,368 in September, marking the highest on-year increase in history.

The number of couples getting divorced inched up 0.4 per cent on-year to 7,531, the data added.

/IANS