Number of Births in 2025 Near 260,000, Second Consecutive Year of Increase

– Number of Births (Registered) Increased by 15,908 (+6.56%) Year-on-Year
– Residential Population Declined for Six Consecutive Years, Number of Households Continues to Increase

The number of births in Korea increased in 2025, following a similar increase in 2024. Conversely, the resident population decreased for six consecutive years.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (Minister Yoon Ho-joong) announced that the number of registered births in Korea in 2025 reached 258,242 people, an increase of 15,908 people(6.56%) from 2024 (242,334 people). The number of births increased for the second consecutive year after rebounding for the first time in nine years last year (2024). However, it remains lower than the number of deaths, indicating that natural causes (deaths minus births) continue to lead to a population decline (107,907 people).

The number of births was 258,242, and the number of deaths (deletions) was 366,149, representing increases of 15,908 (6.56% up) and 5,392 (1.49% up), respectively, compared to 2024. While population decline due to natural causes (births minus deaths) continues, it has decreased compared to 2024. Looking at the number of births by region, the cities and provinces had the highest number in Gyeonggi (77,702 people up), Seoul (46,401 people up), and Incheon (16,786 people up), in that order. The cities, counties, and districts had the highest number in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do (8,116 people up), Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do (7,060 people up), Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do (5,906 people up), Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do (5,525 people up), and Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do (5,522 people up).

Residential population declines for 6 consecutive years

As of December 31, 2025, the resident population was 51,117,378, a decrease of 99,843 (0.19% down) from 2024 (51,217,221). This represents the sixth consecutive year of decline since the first population decline in 2020. The male population has decreased for 7 consecutive years, and the female population has decreased for 5 consecutive years.

The gap between the male population (25,436,665) and the female population (25,687,113) has widened to the largest (244,048) since women surpassed men in 2015.

Age groups aged 40 and over occupy the top four positions.

Looking at the age distribution of the resident registration population in 2025, the rankings are the same as year 2024: 50s (16.89%), 60s (15.50%), 40s (14.83%), 70s and older (13.76%), 30s (13.06%), 20s (11.12%), teens (9.05%), and younger (5.79%).

Among the total resident registration population, there were more males in their 50s and younger, while there were more females in their 60s and older.

The age-wise distribution of the male population is as follows: 50s (17.12%), 60s (15.36%), 40s (15.17%), 30s (13.73%), 70s and older (11.71%), 20s (11.60%), teens (9.34%), and under 10s (5.96%).

The age-wise distribution of the female population is as follows: 50s (16.66%), 70s and older (15.78%), 60s (15.64%), 40s (14.50%), 30s (12.40%), 20s (10.64%), teens (8.77%), and under 10s (5.62%).

The population of children (0-17 years old), adolescents (9-24 years old), and young adults (19-34 years old) continues to decline, while the elderly population (65 years old and older) continues to increase.

The child population (0-17 years old) was 6,644,957, the adolescent population (9-24 years old) was 7,487,073, and the young adult population (19-34 years old) was 9,673,734, which are decreases of 231,373 (3.36% down), 225,314 (2.92% down), and 195,644 (1.98% down), respectively, compared to 2024. The population aged 65 and older exceeded 10 million for the first time in year 2024 and will continue to increase, reaching 10,840,822 in 2025, an increase of 584,040 (5.69% up) from 2024 and accounting for 21.21% of the total registered population.

Continued increase in households, average household size of 2.10

The total number of registered households has increased year-over-year, reaching 24,300,087 households, an increase of 181,159 (0.75% up) from 2024 (24,118,928 households). The average household size decreased to 2.10 (0.02% down). By household size, single-person households accounted for 42.27% of all households, at 10,272,573. This was followed by two-person households (25.31%), three-person households (16.77%), and four-person or more households (15.65%). While the number of one-person, two-person, and three-person households increased, the number of four-person or more households decreased.

By age group, the largest single-person households were those in their 70s and older (21.60%), 60s (18.90%), 30s (16.92%), 50s (15.92%), 20s (13.94%), 40s (12.29%), and under 20s (0.44%).

Males were more common in single-person households among those in their 20s to 60s, while females were more common among those under 20 and over 70. The age distribution of single-person male households is as follows: 30s (20.60%), 50s (18.82%), 60s (18.64%), 40s (15.47%), 20s (13.74%), 70s and older (12.32%), and under 20s (0.41%).

The age distribution of single-person female households is as follows: 70s and older (31.35%), 60s (19.17%), 20s (14.16%), 30s (13.04%), 50s (12.87%), 40s (8.94%), and under 20s (0.47%).

Widening population gap between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas

The metropolitan area population (26,081,644) increased by 34,121 (0.13% up) compared to 2024, while the non-metropolitan area population (25,035,734) decreased by 133,964 (0.53% down). The gap (metropolitan area – non-metropolitan area) widened to its largest (1,045,910 people) since the metropolitan area population surpassed the non-metropolitan area population in 2019.

Local governments with increased resident registration population include 6 metropolitan areas and 63 basic local governments.

Six cities and provinces saw population increases compared to 2024: Gyeonggi (35,450 people up), Incheon (30,951 people up), North Chungcheong (5,325 people up), Daejeon (1,572 people up), Sejong (1,280 people up), and South Chungcheong (179 people up).

Additionally, 63 cities, counties, and districts (22 cities, 24 counties, and 17 districts) saw population increases, including Gangdong-gu, Seoul (22,185 people up), Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do (21,148 people up), and Seo-gu, Incheon (20,294 people up). Eighteen cities and districts experienced population increases due to both social factors (movements in and out) and natural factors (births and deaths), including Gangdong-gu, Seoul, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, and Seo-gu, Incheon.

In particular, among the 89 areas with population decline, 19 areas, including Shinan County in South Jeolla Province (3,685 people down), Goesan County in North Chungcheong Province (2,041 people down), and Yeoncheon County in Gyeonggi Province (1,474 people down), saw population increases compared to last year.

Net inflow of people aged 30 and under and 70 and over in the Seoul metropolitan area, net inflow of people aged 40 to 60 in non-metropolitan areas

The number of registered residents moving in 2025 is projected to be 6,129,759 people, a decrease of 165,189 (2.62% down) from 2024 (6,294,948 people). Of this, 3,938,760 people moved within cities and provinces, and 2,190,999 people moved between cities and provinces.

Looking at migration by region, ▲ population moved from the metropolitan area to the metropolitan area (725,972 people), ▲ from non-metropolitan areas to non-metropolitan areas (664,591 people), ▲ from non-metropolitan areas to the metropolitan area (419,393 people), and ▲ from metropolitan areas to non-metropolitan areas (381,043 people).

Looking at net population migration by age group (inflow minus outflow), the metropolitan area saw a net inflow of people in their 30s and younger (59,286 people up) and those in their 70s and older (186 people up), while the non-metropolitan area saw a net inflow of people in their 40s to 60s (21,122 people up).

Vice Minister Kim Min-jae stated, “The birth rate has increased for two consecutive years, and there has been a significant increase in the population of the Chungcheong region, a non-metropolitan area.” Despite some positive changes, he added, “The population gap between the metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas continues to widen. Therefore, we will identify and implement balanced regional development policies across the government to reverse this trend.”