SEOUL — South Korea is so worried that women are not having enough babies that a slight increase in the birth rate last year ranks as a major triumph for the nation.

South Korea’s birth rate rising “for the first time in nine years” was the top headline Thursday in the country’s three English-language papers. The rate at which Korean women would have babies in their lifetimes, according to Statistics Korea, rose to 0.75 of a baby per woman from 0.72 with 234,300 babies born in 2024, up from the 230,000 born in 2023.  

The rise may seem minuscule, but the first annual increase in nine years may be the start of a trend. That’s the prayer of Korean officials, embarrassed to have to say that Korea’s birth rate ranks last not only among the 38 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development but also among the world’s approximately 207 countries.

The vice chairman of a government committee on aging, Joo Hyung-hwan, perceived the “rebound as an important step to reverse the long-term trend” in which the low birth rate is seen as a threat to the nation’s survival.

The government is hoping the rate will increase to one baby per woman in five years, which would put the country on the way to the OECD average, as of 2022, of 1.51. Even that, though, is not enough. Mr. Joo, briefing journalists, said Korea needs a birth rate of 2.1 per woman to maintain its population of 51.63 million.

Koreans attribute the low birth rate to the rising cost of living, the huge prices of homes, and the drive of young Koreans competing in their careers rather than domestic life.

In a society in which births outside marriage are rare, Mr. Joo cited a 14.9 percent increase in marriages last year as a good sign. Briefing journalists, he said the birth rate may have gone up as couples got married after holding off during the Covid-19 epidemic.

The low birth rate prompted President Yoon to call a “national emergency” and outline incentives to encourage couples to have babies. The government is pursuing his directives even though the national assembly in December suspended his powers as president by impeaching him for declaring martial law. He remains in jail facing the charge of “insurrection” while the constitutional court decides whether to approve his impeachment.

“The most fundamental and fatal problem is the demographic crisis caused by ultra-low birth rates,” Korea’s biggest-selling newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, quoted Mr. Yoon as saying in June. Mr. Yoon cited the example of the ancient city-state of Sparta in the fourth century B.C., blaming its fall on its declining birth rate.

The numbers vary slightly among agencies listing birth statistics, but the United Nations Population Fund ranks Korea dead last among 207 nations at 0.9 births per woman. The Korean level fits a pattern in Northeast Asia in which China ranks 200th with a birth rate of 1.2 and Japan 192nd at 1.3, according to the UN Population Fund.

Mr. Yoon before his impeachment announced ambitious plans for doling out increased funds for new fathers, for enhancing education and care for children and for ensuring that “children of all grades in elementary schools across the country can access after-school programs,” according to Chosun Ilbo.

“He also promised low-interest loans for newlywed couples to buy homes or secure rental deposits, with additional preferential interest rates for each childbirth,” the paper said. “Furthermore, he pledged to enhance tax credits for marriage and expand child tax credits.”