Year of Dragon spurs childbirth rise for 6th straight month

Childbirth in Korea rose for the sixth straight month in October as the Year of the Dragon, which comes every 60 years and is considered the most auspicious year in the Chinese zodiac, fueled a baby boom.

According to Statistics Korea`s report on October population trends released Monday, the number of newborns reached 41,900 that month, up 9.1 percent (3,500 babies) from a year earlier and marking the sixth consecutive month of increase year-on-year. The rise was also the biggest since 10.8 percent (4,060) in January last year.

The rise in childbirth was attributed to the popular belief in Asia that babies born in the Year of the Black Dragon (between Jan. 23, 2012, and Feb. 9, 2013) go on to live healthy and happy lives, which led to more couples getting married and have babies.

In the Year of the Golden Pig in 2007, the number of babies born rose to 493,200 and in that of the White Tiger in 2010, the figure hit 470,200. Both figures were higher than the yearly average of 459,500 babies posted over the last five years.

An official at the statistics agency said, "The echo-boom generation (those born in 1979-1983), who are the children of the baby boom generation (1955-1963), has reached marrying age, while the number of marriages has also increased in the past two years. These factors have had an impact."

The number of marriages in Korea was 27,100 in October, up 4.6 percent (1,200 cases) from a year ago, and the number of divorces also went up 3.1 percent (300 cases).

ryu@donga.com