South Korea’s fertility rate rises for first time in 9 years

Good morning. South Korea’s fertility charge has risen for the primary time in virtually a decade. At this time’s high story explains what drove the turnaround. Additionally on the agenda:

• Trump’s newest tariff menace

• A father-son boardroom battle in Singapore

• The political rise of the anti-vax motion

South Korea’s fertility charge has risen for the primary time in 9 years, as a post-pandemic surge in marriages has spurred hopes that the world’s fastest-ageing society might have turned a nook.

The nation’s fertility charge — the common variety of infants a lady is predicted to have in her lifetime — elevated from 0.72 in 2023 to 0.75 final yr, in accordance with the most recent information from the nationwide statistics workplace.

Though the speed stays the bottom on the planet and much beneath the two.1 wanted to make sure a broadly steady inhabitants, that is the primary rise since 2015, when it was 1.24.

“There was a change in social values, with extra constructive views about marriage and childbirth,” mentioned Park Hyun-jung, an official at Statistics Korea, including that final yr’s pattern was additionally pushed by a rise within the variety of folks of their early 30s in addition to pandemic delays.

The rising demographic disaster has been an enormous problem for South Korean policymakers, who’re grappling with falling financial progress and the elevated price of pensions and healthcare for its ageing inhabitants.

Read more about the rare baby bump and whether the momentum can continue.

Right here’s what else we’re protecting tabs on at the moment:

• Financial information: Japan releases its newest commerce statistics whereas the US publishes revised fourth-quarter GDP figures.

• EU-India ties: European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen begins a two-day go to to New Delhi. The EU chief is planning to ask India to lower its tariffs on cars and wine. (Reuters)

• US-UK relations: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will meet President Donald Trump on the White Home. The go to comes after US lawmakers yesterday expressed concern to the UK about China’s plan to build a massive embassy in London.

5 extra high tales

1. Donald Trump has threatened to slap 25 per cent tariffs on imports from the EU, elevating the prospect of a broad transatlantic commerce struggle. In remarks throughout the first cupboard assembly of his second time period, the US president lashed out at the bloc, saying it “was fashioned to screw the USA”, and mentioned the tariffs “can be on vehicles and all different issues”.

• US-Ukraine minerals deal: Trump has mentioned the US will not give Ukraine security guarantees “past very a lot”, as Washington and Kyiv put together to signal a vital minerals deal on Friday.

• ‘Gold card’: Trump mentioned the US would supply everlasting residency and a path to citizenship for rich foreigners in the event that they paid $5mn below a brand new scheme.

2. Taiwan has objected to what it says have been unannounced Chinese language live-fire naval workouts in busy waters close to its south-western coast. Taiwan’s defence ministry mentioned the Folks’s Liberation Military yesterday notified business ships and plane through ad hoc radio warnings of “shooting drills” in a coaching space 40 nautical miles off the municipality of Kaohsiung and neighbouring Pingtung County.

3. A Singaporean billionaire is searching for to oust his son as chief govt of the household’s property firm, accusing him of attempting a boardroom coup and poor business decisions. Kwek Leng Beng, govt chair of Singapore’s largest listed property firm, Metropolis Developments, filed court docket papers outlining a household feud that has escalated in current months, resulting in the group suspending its shares yesterday morning.

4. Nvidia’s revenues soared within the quarter to the tip of January as gross sales of its AI-focused chips boomed, exceeding Wall Road expectations. Chief govt Jensen Huang mentioned demand for the company’s latest-generation Blackwell chips remained strong regardless of worries that advances by Chinese language AI start-up DeepSeek may stymie Nvidia’s progress.

5. Greater than $800bn has been wiped off international cryptocurrency markets in current weeks, as the passion that swept the crypto trade after Trump’s election victory final yr ebbs away. Latest high-profile scandals in addition to the largest-ever cryptocurrency theft have additionally shaken confidence within the trade.

The Massive Learn

Vaccine scepticism was lengthy a fringe phenomenon, with anti-vaxxers handled as cranks. However now its main proponents are grabbing the political limelight in a way that might have been unthinkable even a number of years in the past. With conventional political events all over the world struggling to look related, the anti-vaccine motion has change into a new anti-establishment political force filling the vacuum.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

Chart of the day

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese language households are affected by “catastrophic well being expenditure” — medical prices which have devastated their family funds. Many specialists argue such pricey payments are disastrous for household funds but also damaging for the wider economy.

Take a break from the information . . . 

With headlines offering a dark forecast for the yr forward, the FT Edit workforce has compiled an inventory of eight things you can look forward to in 2025 together with sporting glory, advances in vaccines and a once-in-a-lifetime planetary alignment this Friday.