Seoul, Nov 27 (IANS): South Korea's births kept growing for the second successive quarter thanks to a double-digit increase in marriages, statistical office data showed Wednesday.

The number of newborn babies gained 8.0 per cent from a year earlier to 61,288 in the July-September quarter after rising 1.2 per cent in the previous quarter, according to Statistics Korea.

The number of marriages surged 24.0 per cent over the year to 51,706 in the third quarter after jumping 17.1 per cent in the second quarter.

Despite the continued increase, the number of newborns hovered low as young couples delayed or gave up on having children owing to economic difficulties such as high housing prices and stubborn unemployment.

The low birth rate fueled worry about a so-called demographic cliff, which refers to a sharp reduction in the heads of households eventually leading to a consumption cliff, Xinhua news agency reported.

The number of divorces added 0.1 per cent to 23,086 in the cited quarter, while the number of deaths expanded 3.3 per cent to 89,846.

Affected by the still-low births and high deaths, the country's population continued to retreat since November 2019.