지난해 출생아 25만 4300명…합계출산율 0.80명
254,300 Births Last Year, with the Total Fertility Rate at 0.80
Part of the August 27, 2026 daily edition
국가데이터처에 따르면 지난해 출생아 수는 25만 4300명으로 1년 전보다 6.7% 늘어, 15년 만에 가장 큰 폭으로 증가했습니다. 합계출산율도 0.75명에서 0.80명으로 0.05명 올랐습니다. 출생아 수는 17개 시도에서 모두 늘었고, 서울이 9.4%, 충북이 9.1%로 증가율이 높았습니다. 첫째아는 15만 8700명으로 8.6% 늘어 둘째아 증가율 4.4%보다 컸습니다. 2024년 기준 OECD 38개 회원국의 평균 합계출산율은 1.40명이었고, 한국은 그때 0.75명으로 회원국 가운데 가장 낮았습니다.
Translation
According to 국가데이터처, the number of births last year was 254,300, up 6.7 percent from a year earlier, the largest rise in 15 years. The total fertility rate also went up from 0.75 to 0.80, a rise of 0.05. Births increased in all 17 cities and provinces, and the rates of increase were highest in Seoul at 9.4 percent and North Chungcheong at 9.1 percent. First children numbered 158,700, a rise of 8.6 percent, which was larger than the 4.4 percent rise in second children. In 2024 the average total fertility rate across the 38 OECD member countries was 1.40, and Korea at 0.75 was the lowest among them at that time.
Vocabulary
- 출생아명사 (noun)a newborn, a birth (as counted)
- 합계출산율명사 (noun)total fertility rate
- 증가율명사 (noun)rate of increase
- 시도명사 (noun)cities and provinces (top-level regions)
- 첫째아명사 (noun)first child
- 회원국명사 (noun)member country
- 기준명사 (noun)as of, on the basis of
- 폭명사 (noun)extent, width (of a change)
Grammar points
N 만에 가장 -(으)ㄴthe most ... in N years
만에 says that much time has passed since the last time, and 가장 plus a modifier names the superlative that has now returned. Together they date a record against history rather than claiming an all-time first, which is a distinction Korean reporting keeps carefully: 15년 만에 가장 큰 폭 means the largest in fifteen years, not the largest ever. Dropping 만에 in translation turns a bounded claim into an unbounded one.
Example: 1년 전보다 6.7% 늘어, 15년 만에 가장 큰 폭으로 증가했습니다.
It rose 6.7 percent from a year earlier, the largest rise in 15 years.
N에서 N으로from N to N
에서 marks the starting value and (으)로 the ending value, and the pair is how Korean states any change in a figure. Use -로 after a vowel or ㄹ and -으로 after other consonants. Statistical writing usually follows it with the size of the change as a separate figure, as here, so the reader gets both endpoints and the gap without doing arithmetic.
Example: 합계출산율도 0.75명에서 0.80명으로 0.05명 올랐습니다.
The total fertility rate also went up from 0.75 to 0.80, a rise of 0.05.
N보다 크다 / 낮다larger / lower than N
보다 marks the thing being compared against, and it comes before the adjective, which is the opposite of the English order. 4.4%보다 컸습니다 is 'was larger than 4.4 percent'. Because Korean puts the standard first and the judgement last, a long sentence can leave you waiting for the adjective, so identify what follows 보다 and hold it until the end.
Example: 첫째아는 8.6% 늘어 둘째아 증가율 4.4%보다 컸습니다.
First children rose 8.6 percent, which was larger than the 4.4 percent rise in second children.
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