SEJONG, March 20 (Yonhap) – The number of South Koreans who have married fell at a double-digit rate to an all-time low in 2020 in the wake of changing attitudes among young people towards marriage and the negative impact of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, Korea Statistics (KOSTAT) recently reported.
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The number of couples donning rings in Asia’s fourth-largest economy reached 214,000 last year, down 10.7% from a year earlier, according to government data.
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This figure is the lowest since 1970, when KOSTAT began to compile related data, and represents the ninth consecutive year of decline.
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The annualized rate of decline is also the steepest since the 18.9% drop recorded in 1971. It also marks the first double-digit decline in 23 years.
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Last year’s drop came as more and more South Korean youth feel marriage is not compulsory due to difficulties in finding decent work or buying housing. The Covid-19 epidemic has also resulted in the cancellation or postponement of many marriages, the agency said.
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According to a government survey conducted in 2020, only 51.2% of people aged 13 and over think they should get married, down 14 percentage points from 2010.
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The latest data also shows that the average age of South Korean men who marry reached 33.2 years last year, up 1.4 years from 10 years earlier.
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The median age of women who married for the first time was 30.8 years, up 1.9 years from 2010.
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The number of South Koreans marrying foreign spouses fell to 15,000 in 2020, down 35.1% from the previous year. This figure represents 7.2% of the country’s total marriages.
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Meanwhile, the number of divorces in South Korea fell to 107,000 last year, down 3.9% from the previous year and marking the first annual decline in three years, couples married for 20 years or more accounting for most of the total at 37.2%.
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