The number of childbirths in South Korea rose in October after falling for two straight months, a government report showed Wednesday, a positive development for a country struggling with an aging population.

In October, some 36,900 babies were born, up 1.1 percent from the same month last year, according to the report from Statistics Korea.

The rebound follows newborn numbers falling 3.6 percent and 3.7 percent in August and September, respectively.

South Korea, whose population is expected to peak in 2030, has been trying to push up its birthrate to prevent a decline in the national workforce, which could result in more welfare expenses and damage the country's growth potential. The country has one of the lowest birthrates among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member states.

The statistical agency said there were no clear cut reasons for the modest gain.

For the first 10 months of 2015, childbirths edged up 0.8 percent vis-a-vis 2014 to about 373,400 babies, according to the report.

In 2014, 435,400 babies were born in Asia's fourth-largest economy, down 0.2 percent on-year. The drop also followed a 9.9 percent plunge in the previous year.

The latest report also showed about 23,200 couples tied the knot in October, down a sharp 14.4 percent from a year earlier.

The number of newlyweds is a good indicator of future childbirths as very few children are born to single-parent families here.

The total number of marriages dropped 5.4 percent last year to 305,500, following a 1.3 percent contraction in 2013.

For the January-October period, about 243,600 couples got married, down 1.6 percent from the same period last year.

The latest findings then showed the number of divorces decreasing 2 percent on-year to about 9,800 in October. In the first 10 months of this year, the number of separations shrank 6.2 percent on-year to about 90,300.

The number of deaths, meanwhile, moved up 2.2 percent on-year to some 23,100 during the month. Total deaths in the country hit

229,800 as of September this year, an increase of 4 percent from a year earlier.

In a separate report, the statistics office said the number of people changing their homes rose 5.9 percent on-year to about 50,000 in November. This number is down slightly from 653,000 in October. (Yonhap)