Which Gyeonggi-do Local Governments Have Surpassed a Total Fertility Rate of '1.0' Amid the Rebound?

Gwacheon, Pyeongtaek, and Hwaseong
Three Local Governments Surpass a Total Fertility Rate of 1.0

Amid the population decline crisis, the 'total fertility rate' has rebounded for the first time in nine years, with three basic local governments in Gyeonggi-do recording a rate of '1.0 or higher.' The cities of Gwacheon, Hwaseong, and Pyeongtaek are the main players.

The 'total fertility rate' refers to the average number of children a woman is expected to have during her childbearing years, from ages 15 to 49, and is used as an indicator of a country's or society's birth rate. South Korea's total fertility rate fell below 2.0 starting in 1984 and dropped below 1.0 from 2018 onward.

According to the '2025 Population Trend Survey Birth and Death Statistics (Provisional)' released by Statistics Korea, the nationwide total fertility rate was 0.75. This marks an increase of 0.03 from the previous year, representing a rebound for the first time in nine years since 2015.

In the case of Gwacheon, the rate was 1.03 last year, maintaining the highest total fertility rate nationwide for two consecutive years following 1.02 the previous year. Meanwhile, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek also joined the cities with rates exceeding 1.0. Hwaseong's rate rose from 0.98 to 1.01 during the same period, and Pyeongtaek, which had fallen to 0.92 the previous year, returned to the 1.0 range last year. The number of births in these local governments last year were ▲Gwacheon 700 ▲Hwaseong 7,200 ▲Pyeongtaek 4,000.

Expanding the scope to include all 66 basic local governments in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Seoul and Incheon, only four local governments exceeded 1.0, including Ganghwa-gun in Incheon (1.06).

Jung Jang-seon, mayor of Pyeongtaek, said, “It seems that a combination of stable residential environments, jobs, and social, environmental, and welfare policies is necessary to recover the birth rate. We will continue to steadily improve the living conditions in the region and create an environment conducive to raising children.”