The number of childbirths in South Korea grew for the second month in a row in April, a government report showed Wednesday, a positive development for the country trying to get people to have more kids.

According to the report by Statistics Korea, about 38,100 babies were born in April, up a solid 2.4 percent from 37,200 reported for a year earlier.

The on-year increase was the highest gain for the month of April since the 5.3 percent growth tallied in 2011. The rise comes after the number of childbirths shot up 6.3 percent on-year in March with 40,400 babies being born in the country.

For the first four months of 2015, 155,800 babies were born in the country, up 1.7 percent from 153,200 tallied for the same period a year earlier.

"The number of women in their mid to late 30s having babies played a part in the rise of newborn numbers last month," an official from the statistical office said.

She said this is a natural development as the average age of women getting married has risen over the years.

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. Such a development can result in more welfare expenses and damage the country's growth potential.

In 2014, 435,300 babies were born in Asia's fourth-largest economy, down 0.3 percent on-year. In the previous year, childbirths plunged 9.9 percent to 436,500 causing alarm bells to go off.

The report also showed that about 24,700 couples tied the knot in April, a 3.8 percent increase from the year before. The monthly number, however, represents a drop from 27,200 people who were married in the third month of 2015.

The number of newlyweds is a good indicator of childbirths down the line in South Korea because very few children are born to single-parent families.

The number of divorces, meanwhile, fell 8.3 percent on-year to 8,800.

From January through April, the number of people who got married reached 101,200, a gain of 0.4 percent on-year, with that of divorces falling by 6,100 to 35,100.

In April, there were 23,600 deaths, up 8.3 percent from a year earlier.

In a separate report, the agency said that the number of people changing their residency dipped 1.2 percent on-year to 606,000 in May. It was also down from the 613,000 in April and the lowest figure for May in 40 years. (Yonhap)