South Korea birth & fertility rate charts by year

Fertility rate in South Korea chart

According to the latest birth rate data available, the fertility rate in South Korea was 0.72 in 2023 and has been below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman since 1983. In 1993, the fertility rate was 1.65 — a -56.4% decline in 30 years.

Check population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases the historical changes in birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	South Korea	World
1960	5.99	4.69
1961	5.8	4.56
1962	5.56	5.02
1963	5.33	5.31
1964	5.07	5.13
1965	4.89	5.08
1966	4.78	4.97
1967	4.62	4.87
1968	4.51	4.98
1969	4.45	4.88
1970	4.53	4.84
1971	4.54	4.69
1972	4.12	4.55
1973	4.07	4.42
1974	3.77	4.26
1975	3.43	4.07
1976	3	3.97
1977	2.99	3.84
1978	2.64	3.77
1979	2.9	3.76
1980	2.82	3.73
1981	2.57	3.71
1982	2.39	3.72
1983	2.06	3.59
1984	1.74	3.57
1985	1.66	3.53
1986	1.58	3.51
1987	1.53	3.48
1988	1.55	3.39
1989	1.56	3.35
1990	1.57	3.31
1991	1.71	3.13
1992	1.76	3.04
1993	1.65	2.97
1994	1.66	2.92
1995	1.63	2.87
1996	1.57	2.82
1997	1.54	2.78
1998	1.46	2.75
1999	1.43	2.72
2000	1.48	2.73
2001	1.31	2.69
2002	1.18	2.66
2003	1.19	2.64
2004	1.16	2.63
2005	1.09	2.61
2006	1.13	2.61
2007	1.26	2.6
2008	1.19	2.6
2009	1.15	2.59
2010	1.23	2.57
2011	1.24	2.55
2012	1.3	2.56
2013	1.19	2.53
2014	1.21	2.52
2015	1.24	2.49
2016	1.17	2.49
2017	1.05	2.46
2018	0.98	2.39
2019	0.92	2.35
2020	0.84	2.28
2021	0.81	2.25
2022	0.78	2.22
2023	0.72	2.2
2024	0.73	2.19
2025	0.75	2.18
2026	0.76	2.18
2027	0.78	2.17
2028	0.79	2.16
2029	0.8	2.15
2030	0.82	2.14
2031	0.83	2.13
2032	0.84	2.12
2033	0.85	2.12
2034	0.86	2.11
2035	0.88	2.1
2036	0.89	2.09
2037	0.9	2.09
2038	0.91	2.08
2039	0.92	2.08
2040	0.93	2.08
2041	0.95	2.07
2042	0.96	2.07
2043	0.96	2.07
2044	0.97	2.07
2045	0.98	2.06
2046	0.99	2.06
2047	1	2.06
2048	1.01	2.05
2049	1.02	2.05
2050	1.03	2.05

Birth rates by women ages chart

In 2025, of all live births 0.24% were to women under 20 years old, 17.5% to women ages 20-29, and 82.2% to women ages 30 and above. In comparison, the percentages in 1990 were 1.38%, 80.7%, and 17.9% for the same age groups respectively. A chart displaying the historical birth rates in South Korea by maternal age is provided below.

Annual births per 1,000 women ages

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Children 0-14 as share of population
	South Korea	World
1960	41.3%	37.4%
1961	41.8%	37.5%
1962	42.3%	37.6%
1963	42.7%	37.8%
1964	43.1%	38%
1965	43.3%	38%
1966	43.5%	38%
1967	43.3%	38%
1968	43.1%	37.9%
1969	42.7%	37.8%
1970	42.1%	37.7%
1971	41.5%	37.6%
1972	41%	37.5%
1973	40.3%	37.3%
1974	39.5%	37.2%
1975	38.5%	37.1%
1976	37.5%	36.9%
1977	36.5%	36.7%
1978	35.6%	36.3%
1979	34.8%	35.9%
1980	34%	35.5%
1981	33.3%	35.2%
1982	32.7%	34.9%
1983	32%	34.6%
1984	31.2%	34.3%
1985	30.2%	34%
1986	29.2%	33.8%
1987	28.2%	33.6%
1988	27.3%	33.4%
1989	26.5%	33.2%
1990	25.8%	33%
1991	25.2%	32.9%
1992	24.7%	32.7%
1993	24.2%	32.5%
1994	23.7%	32.3%
1995	23.1%	32.1%
1996	22.5%	31.8%
1997	22%	31.5%
1998	21.6%	31.1%
1999	21.2%	30.8%
2000	21%	30.4%
2001	20.8%	30%
2002	20.5%	29.6%
2003	20.1%	29.2%
2004	19.7%	28.8%
2005	19.2%	28.5%
2006	18.7%	28.1%
2007	18.1%	27.9%
2008	17.5%	27.6%
2009	16.9%	27.5%
2010	16.4%	27.3%
2011	15.8%	27.1%
2012	15.2%	27%
2013	14.7%	26.9%
2014	14.2%	26.8%
2015	13.8%	26.6%
2016	13.4%	26.5%
2017	13%	26.4%
2018	12.7%	26.2%
2019	12.4%	26%
2020	12.1%	25.8%
2021	11.8%	25.6%
2022	11.4%	25.3%
2023	11%	25%
2024	10.6%	24.7%
2025	10.2%	24.4%
2026	9.82%	24.1%
2027	9.42%	23.8%
2028	9.06%	23.4%
2029	8.75%	23.1%
2030	8.43%	22.8%
2031	8.15%	22.6%
2032	7.94%	22.3%
2033	7.79%	22.1%
2034	7.7%	21.9%
2035	7.66%	21.7%
2036	7.65%	21.6%
2037	7.66%	21.5%
2038	7.68%	21.4%
2039	7.71%	21.3%
2040	7.73%	21.2%
2041	7.75%	21.1%
2042	7.76%	21%
2043	7.77%	21%
2044	7.78%	20.9%
2045	7.79%	20.8%
2046	7.8%	20.7%
2047	7.81%	20.7%
2048	7.82%	20.6%
2049	7.82%	20.5%
2050	7.83%	20.4%

The share of children aged 0-14 in South Korea was 41.3% in 1960, 24.2% in 1993, and 10.6% as of the latest data in 2025.

More about the demographics of South Korea.

Natural population change by year

For the past 10 years, the natural population change in South Korea, excluding migration, has been +0.06% annually. On average, 27,721 more people were born each year than died.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	South Korea
1960	728,010
1961	730,173
1962	712,590
1963	685,824
1964	655,501
1965	641,090
1966	623,534
1967	692,169
1968	684,487
1969	694,227
1970	747,987
1971	789,185
1972	740,469
1973	699,115
1974	673,030
1975	603,300
1976	530,558
1977	578,947
1978	499,084
1979	623,068
1980	583,294
1981	631,189
1982	605,626
1983	514,844
1984	436,384
1985	416,219
1986	395,651
1987	378,758
1988	399,297
1989	403,266
1990	411,546
1991	467,594
1992	494,352
1993	477,302
1994	473,200
1995	468,967
1996	446,142
1997	422,773
1998	393,436
1999	368,272
2000	390,167
2001	312,643
2002	247,752
2003	244,251
2004	225,988
2005	187,920
2006	203,441
2007	248,286
2008	215,841
2009	197,231
2010	213,083
2011	214,728
2012	215,859
2013	166,415
2014	167,464
2015	163,248
2016	122,923
2017	71,907
2018	30,951
2019	10,353
2020	-31,101
2021	-56,947
2022	-124,014
2023	-77,569

Maternal mortality chart

The maternal mortality rate in South Korea was 4 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.004% chance of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination. This is a -73.3% decrease compared to the year 2000.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Korea	World
1985	38	460
1986	35	438
1987	34	429
1988	31	414
1989	29	401
1990	28	391
1991	28	395
1992	26	395
1993	24	389
1994	23	382
1995	22	371
1996	20	366
1997	19	358
1998	18	360
1999	17	340
2000	15	328
2001	14	321
2002	13	311
2003	13	301
2004	12	291
2005	11	283
2006	10	276
2007	10	269
2008	9	264
2009	9	258
2010	8	253
2011	8	247
2012	8	239
2013	7	235
2014	7	231
2015	6	228
2016	6	220
2017	6	215
2018	5	211
2019	5	207
2020	12	211
2021	5	242
2022	7	203
2023	4	197

Under-five mortality rate chart

The under-5 mortality rate in South Korea was 2.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.28% chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five. This is down from 7.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	South Korea	World
1960	11.2%	18.5%
1961	10.6%	18.1%
1962	10.1%	17.8%
1963	9.67%	17.5%
1964	9.18%	17.7%
1965	8.68%	17.5%
1966	8.16%	17.3%
1967	7.62%	17%
1968	7.1%	16.5%
1969	6.59%	15.5%
1970	6.12%	15.2%
1971	5.71%	15.1%
1972	5.36%	14.4%
1973	5.07%	14.1%
1974	4.82%	13.7%
1975	4.61%	13.4%
1976	4.42%	13%
1977	4.23%	12.5%
1978	4.04%	12.1%
1979	3.84%	11.7%
1980	3.63%	11.4%
1981	3.4%	11%
1982	3.17%	10.8%
1983	2.93%	10.6%
1984	2.7%	10.4%
1985	2.46%	10.1%
1986	2.25%	9.81%
1987	2.05%	9.47%
1988	1.87%	9.31%
1989	1.71%	9.02%
1990	1.57%	8.81%
1991	1.44%	8.66%
1992	1.33%	8.46%
1993	1.23%	8.19%
1994	1.14%	7.98%
1995	1.05%	7.76%
1996	0.98%	7.52%
1997	0.91%	7.28%
1998	0.85%	7.05%
1999	0.8%	6.76%
2000	0.75%	6.48%
2001	0.71%	6.21%
2002	0.68%	5.94%
2003	0.64%	5.65%
2004	0.6%	5.43%
2005	0.56%	5.16%
2006	0.52%	4.92%
2007	0.48%	4.7%
2008	0.45%	4.5%
2009	0.43%	4.31%
2010	0.41%	4.11%
2011	0.4%	3.97%
2012	0.38%	3.77%
2013	0.37%	3.61%
2014	0.36%	3.48%
2015	0.35%	3.35%
2016	0.34%	3.23%
2017	0.33%	3.11%
2018	0.32%	2.97%
2019	0.31%	2.86%
2020	0.3%	2.75%
2021	0.29%	2.66%
2022	0.28%	2.59%
2023	0.28%	2.49%