Childbirth in Korea grew over 10 percent in January from a year earlier as improving economic conditions encouraged couples to have more babies, a government report showed Wednesday.

According to the report by Statistics Korea, the number of babies born in January stood at 47,500, up 10.7 percent, or about 4,600 from the same month a year earlier. The January figure marked the 11th consecutive on-year growth since March 2010.

The monthly childbirth figure is also the highest level since January 2002 when 48,500 babies were born, the agency said.

The increase comes as economic recovery encouraged more people to get married and have babies, an official of the agency said.

Marriages increased 1.9 percent in January from a year earlier, with about 26,800 couples tying the knot, the report showed.

Divorces, however, declined 3.2 percent to 9,000, while deaths rose 7.3 percent to 23,600, according to the report.

In a separate report, the agency said that 787,000 people changed their residency last month, a 0.4 percent increase from the same period a year earlier. Korea has a population of about 50 million. 

(Yonhap News)