Total Fertility Rate 0.98 and 6,700 Births
Highest Among Cities with Over 1 Million Population
Amid a sharp decline in birth rates, Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province has recorded the highest birth rate among large cities with populations exceeding one million.
According to Hwaseong City and the National Statistical Portal on the 6th, Hwaseong's total fertility rate last year was 0.98, significantly higher than the averages of Gyeonggi Province (0.77) and the entire country (0.72). This is the top record among local governments with populations over one million.
The difference becomes even more pronounced when comparing the number of births in cities within Gyeonggi Province with populations over one million. According to provisional data from the National Statistical Portal, Hwaseong recorded 6,700 births last year, far surpassing Suwon (6,000), Goyang (5,000), and Yongin (4,900).
The relatively high birth rate in Hwaseong appears to be due to the steady influx of young people based on job opportunities. According to the city, there are currently about 28,000 registered companies in Hwaseong. Notably, it is characterized by the concentration of major corporations such as Samsung Electronics and Kia, as well as advanced companies in semiconductors, future vehicles, and biotechnology.
The city's proactive birth support policies are also considered a contributing factor. Since Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun took office in 2022, Hwaseong has revised the "Ordinance on Birth Support," expanding the scope and amount of birth support funds from previously supporting only the third child to providing 1 million won for the first child starting last year.
In May of last year, the criteria for multiple children were also relaxed from three children to two. Due to this relaxation, the number of beneficiary households increased significantly from 11,476 to 70,441.
Additionally, Hwaseong has established various birth and childcare support measures, including ▲ providing cutlery sets to those who register their marriage ▲ health checkups for prospective newlyweds ▲ hospital medical expenses and counseling ▲ dispatching early childhood development psychology experts to daycare centers ▲ assigning therapists to integrated daycare centers for children with disabilities ▲ and operating Hwaseong-style holiday daycare centers.
Mayor Jeong said, "We will support citizens' childbirth and childcare to create an environment conducive to having and raising children," adding, "We will continue to promote more diverse and effective birth encouragement policies in the future."
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