SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- The number of babies born in South Korea rose 13.6 percent in May from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday, in another positive sign amid the country's demographic challenge.

A total of 23,160 babies were born in May, up from 20,379 a year earlier, according to findings released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

Over the January-May period, the total number of births came to 122,694, up 15.2 percent from the same period in 2025.

South Korea's birth rate has begun rebounding since 2024, partly driven by a rise of post-pandemic marriages and government efforts to encourage couples to have babies.

The country's total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, rose by 0.1 from a year earlier to 0.85 in May.

The rate still remains well below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration.

The number of marriages in May, meanwhile, fell 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 20,368.

Divorce numbers also declined 3.9 percent from a year earlier to 7,122.

The latest data showed the number of deaths rose 3.8 percent from a year earlier to 29,573 in May, resulting in a natural population decline of 6,413.

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