SEOUL, September 03 (AJP) - South Korea is seeing a growing share of marriages involving foreign nationals, even as overall marriage rates have nearly halved over the past three decades, according to new government data released Wednesday.
Statistics Korea said that marriages with foreign spouses rose 54 percent from 13,500 in 1995 to 20,800 in 2024. Such unions accounted for 9.3 percent of all marriages last year, up from 3.4 percent three decades earlier.
Both Korean men marrying foreign women and Korean women marrying foreign men saw significant increases, rising 50.7 percent and 64.2 percent, respectively.
The trend contrasts sharply with broader declines in marriage. Total unions peaked at 434,900 in 1996 before falling to 191,700 in 2022, the lowest in 30 years. The number has since inched up to 222,400 in 2024 but remains far below historic levels.
South Korea’s demographic transformation extends beyond marriage. The number of newborns plunged from 715,000 in 1995 to 238,000 in 2024, with the total fertility rate dropping from 1.63 children per woman to just 0.75, among the lowest in the world.
Average ages at first marriage climbed to 33.9 years for men and 31.6 years for women.
Family patterns are shifting as well. First-born children now make up more than 60 percent of births, reflecting the rise of single-child households.
Births outside of marriage, while still limited, grew nearly fivefold over the same period, reaching 5.8 percent.
Parents are older on average, with mothers giving birth at 33.7 years and fathers at 36.1 years in 2024. Multiple births, including twins, also became more common, rising to 5.7 percent of all deliveries.
reporter
Candice Kim
candicekim1121@ajupress.com
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