By Yoon Ja-young
Young Koreans are increasingly shunning marriage, meaning the country's birthrate, which has fallen to one of the lowest in the world, is likely to slide further.
Statistics Korea released 2017 data for marriages and divorces Wednesday that showed 264,500 couples got married last year, down 6.1 percent from the previous year. This compares with 1996 when 430,000 couples got married. The figure fell to below 400,000 following the Asian financial crisis and to below 300,000 in 2016
The crude marriage rate _ the number of marriages per 1,000 people _ was 5.2, the lowest figure since Statistics Korea started compiling such data.
Experts say that the youth unemployment and the economic burden following marriage are leading more young people to hesitate tying the knot.
"The population in their early 30s decreased 5.6 percent from the previous year. Rising youth unemployment and housing rent are also leading to the drop in marriages," said Lee Ji-yeon, director in charge of population trends at the statistics agency.
The decreasing number of couples means the country's birthrate, which fell to 1.05 per woman, will dip even further. The number of births last year totaled 357,700, down 11.9 percent from the previous year.
"Couples usually have their first child within two years of marriage. Since the number of marriages dropped by over 5 percent in both 2016 and 2017, a decline in childbirths will be inevitable," Lee said.
This is worrisome as it could weigh on the economy.
"A vicious circle is being formed, where youth unemployment leads to delayed marriage, and the falling birthrate is the result," said Lee Geun-tae, an economist at the LG Economic Research Institute.
"It will lead to a labor shortage in the long term, eroding the nation's growth potential," he added.
The average age of grooms was 32.9, while that of brides was 30.2. The average age is rising each year as Koreans delay getting married.
Statistics also show increasing interracial marriages. A total of 20,800 Koreans married foreigners in 2017, 1.2 percent more than the previous year.
Meanwhile, 106,000 couples got divorced last year, 1.2 percent less than 2016. The husbands were on average 47.6 years old and wives 44 when they divorced. One out of three couples who got divorced had been married for over 20 years. The ratio of those married for less than five years, meanwhile, stood at 22.4 percent.
Young Koreans are increasingly shunning marriage, meaning the country's birthrate, which has fallen to one of the lowest in the world, is likely to slide further.
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Statistics Korea released 2017 data for marriages and divorces Wednesday that showed 264,500 couples got married last year, down 6.1 percent from the previous year. This compares with 1996 when 430,000 couples got married. The figure fell to below 400,000 following the Asian financial crisis and to below 300,000 in 2016
The crude marriage rate _ the number of marriages per 1,000 people _ was 5.2, the lowest figure since Statistics Korea started compiling such data.
Experts say that the youth unemployment and the economic burden following marriage are leading more young people to hesitate tying the knot.
"The population in their early 30s decreased 5.6 percent from the previous year. Rising youth unemployment and housing rent are also leading to the drop in marriages," said Lee Ji-yeon, director in charge of population trends at the statistics agency.
The decreasing number of couples means the country's birthrate, which fell to 1.05 per woman, will dip even further. The number of births last year totaled 357,700, down 11.9 percent from the previous year.
"Couples usually have their first child within two years of marriage. Since the number of marriages dropped by over 5 percent in both 2016 and 2017, a decline in childbirths will be inevitable," Lee said.
This is worrisome as it could weigh on the economy.
"A vicious circle is being formed, where youth unemployment leads to delayed marriage, and the falling birthrate is the result," said Lee Geun-tae, an economist at the LG Economic Research Institute.
"It will lead to a labor shortage in the long term, eroding the nation's growth potential," he added.
The average age of grooms was 32.9, while that of brides was 30.2. The average age is rising each year as Koreans delay getting married.
Statistics also show increasing interracial marriages. A total of 20,800 Koreans married foreigners in 2017, 1.2 percent more than the previous year.
Meanwhile, 106,000 couples got divorced last year, 1.2 percent less than 2016. The husbands were on average 47.6 years old and wives 44 when they divorced. One out of three couples who got divorced had been married for over 20 years. The ratio of those married for less than five years, meanwhile, stood at 22.4 percent.
