emirates7 - According to government data released on Wednesday, the number of babies born in South Korea rose by nearly 4 percent in May compared to the same month last year, marking the largest increase for May in 14 years.

Yonhap News Agency, citing Statistics Korea, reported that 20,309 babies were born in May, up 3.8 percent from 19,567 births recorded a year earlier.

This represents the sharpest year-on-year rise for the month of May since 2011, when births increased by 5.3 percent.

May also marked the second month in a row with over 20,000 births and the 11th consecutive month of year-on-year growth since July of last year.