South Korea's birth rate rises for first time in 9 years

진행자: 박준희, Elise Youn

기사 요약: 지난해 한국의 출생아 수가 23만 8천여 명으로, 1년 만에 약 8천 명 증가했다. 출생아 수가 증가한 것은 2015년 이후 9년 만이다.

[1] South Korea's fertility rate rose by 0.03 in 2024, breaking a nine-year downtrend, according to Statistics Korea on Wednesday. This came as the country has been suffering from a demographic crisis — a double whammy of a low birth rate and and increase in the elderly population — for nearly a decade.

*downtrend: 하강 추세

*demographic crisis: 인구 위기

*double whammy: 이중고

[2] Statistics Korea attributes the improvement to the increase in the number of women in the childbearing age of early 30s, pent-up wedding demand following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and slight increases in the percent of Koreans who think positively about marriage and childbirth.

*attribute: (~을 …의) 결과로 보다

*childbearing: 출산, 분만

*pent-up: 억눌린

[3] Despite the rebound, South Korea's birth rate will likely remain at the lowest level among 38 member nations of the Organization for the Economic Development and Cooperation, as 2022 estimates indicated South Korea was the only member country with a fertility rate lower than 1.

*rebound: 반등

*remain: 남다

[4] The number of newborns here also reached 238,343 in 2024, up 3.6 percent from the previous year. The figure saw the first uptick in nine years, as the number of newborns in 2015 rose 0.7 percent to 438,420 and had since gradually declined until 2023.

*previous: 이전의

*uptick: 상승

*gradually: 서서히

기사 원문: https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10429076

[코리아헤럴드 팟캐스트 구독]

아이튠즈(아이폰):https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2

네이버 오디오 클립(아이폰, 안드로이드 겸용): https://audioclip.naver.com/channels/5404

팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638