SEOUL — South Korea's births hit the highest for the month of August in seven years amid a shifting social mindset toward childbirth, statistical ministry data showed Wednesday.

The number of newborn babies rose 13.0 percent from a year earlier to 23,703 in August, marking the largest number of births for any August since 2019, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

The newborns continued to rise in double digits since January, keeping an upward trajectory for 26 straight months since July 2024.

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For the first eight months of 2026, a total of 193,783 babies were born, up 14.5 percent from a year earlier.

The total fertility rate, or the number of children a woman is expected to bear during life, added 0.09 over the year to 0.87 in August.

The positive trend was fueled by shifting cultural mindsets toward childbirth, a growing population in their 30s, and a recent increase in marriages.