Births in the first quarter hit the highest level in seven years since 2019. Births have risen for eight straight quarters since the second quarter of 2024.
According to the "March population trends" released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics (MODS) on the 27th, first-quarter births this year totaled 75,013, up 14.8% (9,651) from a year earlier. The first-quarter birth growth rate was the highest on record since statistics began in 1981.
March births totaled 25,200, an increase of 19.4% (4,088) from the same month a year earlier. March births hit a seven-year high and rose for a second straight year for the first time in 15 years. The total fertility rate in March was 0.93, up 0.15 from the same month a year earlier. The total fertility rate is the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime.
The Ministry of Data and Statistics (MODS) said it was "the impact of an increase in marriages after COVID-19 and a larger population of women in their 30s."
Marriages in the first quarter totaled 62,309, up 6.1% (3,609) from a year earlier. March marriages totaled 21,112, up 10.1% (1,931) from the same period last year. March marriages were the highest in eight years and rose for a second straight year for the first time in 11 years.
Deaths in the first quarter totaled 93,050, down 7.6% (7,608) from a year earlier. March deaths totaled 31,423, up 1.3% (411) from the same month last year. The difference between births and deaths was −6,224, a natural decrease.