KOREAN NET

The number of births in September exceeded 20,000 for the third straight month. (iClick) *This photo is protected under copyright law and unauthorized reproduction and redistribution are strictly prohibited.

By Koh Hyunjeong

For the third month in a row, the number of babies born in September exceeded 20,000.

Stable growth in the number of both newborns and marriages is fueling expectations that the annual total fertility rate this year will top that of last year.

Statistics Korea on Nov. 27 in its report on September population trends said the number of newborns that month jumped 10.1% to 20,590. This was the third straight month for the figure to surpass 20,000 after July (20,601) and August (20,098).

The third-quarter figure was an estimated 61,288, up 8% or 4,523 babies from the same period last year and the largest jump since the same quarter in 2012.

The increase in the number of births raised the quarter's total fertility rate, or the average number of babies a woman of childbearing age is expected to bear in her lifetime, to 0.76, up 0.05 year on year.

The number of marriages, another leading advance index of childbirth, also grew.

September saw an estimated 15,368 cases of couples tying the knot, up 18.9% or 2,428 from the same month last year.

The third-quarter figure was 51,706, up 24% year on year, and that from January to September this year was 161,711, up 12.8%.

hjkoh@korea.kr