Seoul, March 25 : The proportion of South Koreans considering marriage essential increased last year, a government report showed on Tuesday.

The report reflects a more positive perception of marriage in a country struggling with a demographic crisis, Yonhap news agency reported.

In a biennial social survey, 52.5 per cent of South Koreans aged 13 and older viewed marriage as a necessity in 2024, marking a 2.5 percentage-point increase from two years earlier.

The figure had been on a steady decline since 2010, except for a brief uptick in 2020.

The report also showed that 68.4 per cent of respondents said having children is necessary after marriage, up 3.1 percentage points from two years earlier.

Separate data showed that 222,422 couples tied the knot last year, a 14.9 per cent increase from the previous year, marking the steepest annual rise since the agency began compiling related statistics in 1981.

In 2024, the number of newborns increased for the first time in nine years. The total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime -- also rebounded, rising to 0.75 from 0.72 a year earlier.

The agency cited improving perceptions of marriage and parenthood among younger generations as contributing factors to the rise in childbirths.

Statistics Korea reported that a total of 238,300 babies were born last year, up 3.6 percent from a record low of 230,000 in 2023. The figure has been declining since 2015, when it stood at 438,400.

However, the fertility rate in S. Korea still remains among the lowest in the world and about half the average of the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Since 2018, the country has been the only member of the OECD with a rate below 1.

It also remains far below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman, which is needed to maintain a stable population without immigration. The government aims to raise the rate to 1 by 2030.

/IANS