South Korea’s fertility rate rose in 2024 for the first time in nine years, supported by an increase in marriages, preliminary data showed on Wednesday, in a sign that the country’s demographic crisis might have turned a corner.

South Korea's birthrate, the lowest in the world, rose in 2024 for the first time in nine years, as more couples tied the knot after pandemic delays, and as policy efforts to incentivise companies and Koreans to embrace parenthood start to pay off.

South Korea’s fertility rate has risen for the first time in nine years, as a surge in marriages after the pandemic spurs hopes that the world’s fastest-ageing society may have turned a corner. The country’s fertility rate — the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime — increased from 0.