The decline in marriages is directly affecting the number of births, which has been decreasing for eight consecutive years since peaking at 438,420 in 2015. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has seen its marriage and birth patterns shift dramatically over the past three decades, with the number of marriages nearly cut in half, births falling by two-thirds, and cross-cultural unions rising sharply, government data showed Wednesday.
According to Statistics Korea, marriages peaked at 434,900 in 1996 but dropped to 222,400 in 2024 — 44 percent fewer than in 1995. Yet marriages involving a foreign spouse climbed more than 50 percent in the same period, from 13,500 in 1995 to 20,800 last year. Multicultural marriages now make up nearly one in ten unions.
The average age at first marriage has risen steeply, with men marrying at 33.9 and women at 31.6 in 2024, up more than five years since 1995.
Birth trends reveal even more profound change. The number of babies born plunged from 715,000 in 1995 to 238,000 in 2024, while the fertility rate fell from 1.63 to 0.75 — one of the lowest in the world. Women and men are also becoming parents later, with the average maternal age at childbirth climbing to 33.7 years and paternal age to 36.1.
Rising prices and hidden fees charged by vendors have left many couples preparing for their weddings this year dismayed. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Families are increasingly smaller: while overall births declined, firstborns accounted for 61 percent of all children in 2024, up from 48 percent in 1995, reflecting steep declines in second and third children. Births outside of marriage rose from 1.2 to 5.8 percent of the total, and multiple births, such as twins, grew to 5.7 percent, up from 1.3 percent three decades earlier.
“Fertility among married couples in their late twenties and early thirties has been ticking up again since 2022, but overall declines remain steep,” a Statistics Korea official said.
The findings underscore how South Korea’s demographic challenges — later marriages, fewer children, and greater diversity in family structures — are reshaping both households and social policy in one of the world’s fastest-aging societies.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
