A wedding dress shop in Seoul (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s birthrate continues to decline, but a growing number of unmarried adults now say they still intend to marry—offering a potential, if modest, glimmer of hope in the nation’s battle against population decline.
According to a comprehensive 2024 survey released Sunday by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, the average number of children born to women aged 19–49 fell to 0.85 in 2025, down from 1.03 three years ago. Meanwhile, the number of children women had originally planned to have also declined—from 1.93 to 1.75.
Yet despite these worsening fertility indicators, attitudes toward marriage appear to be shifting in the opposite direction. Among single adults surveyed, 62.2% said they intended to marry—an 11.4 percentage point increase from 2021, when COVID-era uncertainty drove marriage interest to a low of 50.8%. Those firmly against marriage fell to just 6.7%, down from 11.9% three years earlier.
The study, which surveyed 14,372 men and women aged 19 to 49 and their spouses, also found a paradox: unmarried individuals were more likely to say they plan to have children than those who were already married.
While only 18% of married respondents said they were planning to have children (with an average of 1.25 children expected), 63.2% of singles expressed intentions to have children—averaging 1.54.
A recent survey found that while the number of births has declined over the past three years, the proportion of unmarried individuals who intend to marry has increased. (Yonhap)
Still, for many who don’t plan to marry, personal contentment remains a key reason. Among those who said they had no intention of marrying, 58.4% cited satisfaction with their current life. Financial concerns (11.4%) and difficulty finding a suitable partner (10.2%) followed as secondary factors.
Notably, 63.4% of women cited life satisfaction as a reason not to marry—nearly 10 percentage points higher than men. Conversely, 17% of men said they couldn’t afford to marry, a figure 10.9 points higher than that of women.
As for those who do plan to marry, economic stability is becoming a significantly more important consideration than it was for older generations. Married respondents said love (81.9%) and companionship (81.8%) were their top reasons for marrying, followed by financial stability (53.2%) and family or societal expectations (45.1%).
In contrast, unmarried individuals with plans to marry emphasized companionship (82.4%) and love (78.5%), but placed much greater weight on economic security (69.8%).
More than half of the participants in a recent temple stay program at Baekyang Temple found romantic connections. (Image courtesy of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism Social Welfare Foundation)
Researchers say this subtle but telling shift—from romance to pragmatism—may indicate that future marriages in South Korea are becoming more rational and selective, with economic considerations taking a larger role than emotional ones.
Whether this growing openness to marriage will ultimately reverse the country’s record-low fertility rate remains an open question—but experts note it is a trend worth watching closely.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
