According to Statistics Korea on Sunday, the figure rose 3.3 percent from 2010 to 9,959 last year, the highest since the data began to be compiled in 1981.

The previous high was 9,741 babies in 1981 but the number fell to 5,200 in 1989. In 1994, it made an upward reverse to top 9,000. The figure again dropped to 4,200 in 1997 but has steadily increased since 2003.

In the early 1980s, the high number of babies born to unmarried parents was due to lack of social awareness on contraception. The higher number in recent years, however, was linked to shifting social attitudes on marriage and childbirth.

Consequently, the number of babies born out of wedlock among overall newborns in Korea rose to 2.1 percent last year, a steady increase from 1 percent in 2001, 1.5 percent in 2005, and 2 percent in 2009.

The percentage of babies in Korea born to a single parent, however, remains one of the lowest among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The organization’s average rate was just 11 percent in 1980 but increased to 36.3 percent in 2009.

As of 2009, more than half of newborns were born out of wedlock in Iceland (64.1 percent), Mexico (55.1 percent), Sweden (54.7 percent) and France (52.6 percent). The figure in the UK was 45.4 percent and that of the Netherlands 41.2 percent.

韩国去年出生的非婚生儿连续第九年数量上升，达到了1万名，占2011年韩国新生儿总数的2.1%。

根据韩国统计局周日的数据，去年婚外新生儿人数达到了9959名，相比2010年增加了3.3%，这是自1981年开始收集该数据以来的最高峰。

1981年也曾出现过非婚生儿的出生高峰（9741名），但这一数字在1989年回落至5200名。1994年，趋势又发生逆转，婚外新生儿人数再度上扬，超过9000名。1997年这一数字再次回落到4200名，但自2003年以来婚外新生儿人数一直不断增加。

在20世纪80年代早期，婚外新生儿人数多是因为社会上的非法同居父母缺乏避孕意识。近年来婚外新生儿人数增加则是因为社会对婚姻和生子的态度的转变。

结果，韩国去年出生的非婚生儿增加到全国新生儿总数的2.1%，而在2001年这一数字是1%，2005年是1.5%，2009年是2%，呈不断上升的趋势。

韩国由单身母亲所生的小孩比例一直是经济合作与发展组织成员国中最低的。该组织成员国的这一比例在1980年平均只有11%，而在2009年增至了36.3%。

2009年，冰岛、墨西哥、瑞典和法国超过半数的新生儿是非婚生儿，冰岛为64.1%，墨西哥为55.1%，瑞典为54.7%，法国为52.6%。英国的这一数字为45.4%，荷兰为41.2%。