The number of babies born in the first five months of this year surpassed 120,000, marking the highest figure for the period in seven years.

The growth rate of newborns reached an all-time high for both the month of May and the cumulative January-May period.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths also hit a record high for the month of May.

Authorities analyzed that this was likely due to early heatwaves and wide temperature swings.

According to the May Population Trends report released by Statistics Korea today (the 29th), the number of newborns in May stood at 23,160, up 2,781 (13.6%) from a year earlier.

The number of newborns has increased for 23 consecutive months starting from July 2024.

The total volume of births for May was the highest for the month since 2019 (25,299), marking a seven-year high.

The growth rate for May was the largest since statistics began in 1981.

From January to May this year, 122,694 babies were born.

Compared to a year ago, this is an increase of 16,166 (15.2%).

The cumulative total for January through May was the highest since 2019 (134,433), with both the increase volume and growth rate reaching record highs since the compilation of statistics began.

The total fertility rate for May—the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime—stood at 0.85, up 0.10 from a year earlier.

By birth order, first-born children accounted for 63.0% of all newborns, up 1.3 percentage points.

Second-born children accounted for 31.7%, down 0.2 percentage points.

Children of third birth order or higher accounted for 5.3%, down 1.1 percentage points.

The number of deaths in May was 29,573, an increase of 1,091 (3.8%) compared to the previous year.

This was the largest figure for the month of May since monthly death statistics began in 1983.

An official from Statistics Korea analyzed, "Fluctuations in deaths among the super-aged population are sometimes affected by weather," adding, "In May of this year, days with a daily temperature range of 10 degrees Celsius or more increased by about three days compared to the previous year, and there was an early heatwave in mid-May."

Consequently, the population experienced a natural decrease of 6,413 in May.

However, the scale of the natural decrease was smaller than in May 2024 (-8,974) and May of last year (-8,103).

Marriages, which can hint at potential increases in childbirth, decreased.

The number of marriages in May was 20,368, down 1,392 (-6.4%) from a year earlier.

After posting year-on-year increases for two consecutive months in March and April, the figure turned to a decrease in May.

Statistics Korea explained, "May is usually a month when marriages increase, but this appears to be influenced by a decrease in available filing days due to an increase in holidays, such as Labor Day being designated as a public holiday," adding, "Considering the number of registration days, it is actually a slight increase."

The number of divorces in May stood at 7,122, down 290 (-3.9%) from a year earlier.

This is analyzed to be the lingering effect of past decreases in marriages.