Number of marriages in Korea down 40% over past 10 years, driving down total fertility rate
A person walks by a wedding dress shop in northwestern Seoul, taken March 18, 2022. Newsis
The number of marriages in Korea plummeted 40 percent over the past 10 years, leading to a decrease in the country's birthrate, government data showed Sunday.
A total of 193,673 marriages were reported last year, sharply down from 322,807 cases in 2013, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea.
The 2023 tally was slightly higher than the 191,690 marriages reported in 2022, but the yearly tally decreased for 11 consecutive years from 2012 to 2022.
According to a survey by Statistics Korea, only 15.3 percent of those aged 13 or above said "marriage is a must" in 2022, down from the corresponding tally of 20.3 percent 10 years ago.
The proportion of those who answered "getting married is better" also dropped to 34.8 percent from 42.4 percent over the same period.
The survey also showed that more than 30 percent of those in their 20s or 30s cited "lack of money" as a reason they are not getting married.
About 19 percent and 14 percent of those in their 20s and 30s said they "do not feel the need" to get married.
Fewer marriages have also led to a fall in the country's fertility rate in recent years, as most people in South Korea give birth to a baby after they get married.
The number of newborns here dropped for the eighth consecutive year in 2023 to 230,000, down 47.3 percent from 436,455 tallied in 2013, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea.
South Korea's total fertility rate — the average number of children that are expected to be born to a woman over her lifetime — fell to an all-time quarterly low of 0.65 in the October-December period in 2023, much lower than the replacement level of 2.1 that would keep South Korea's population stable at 51 million. (Yonhap)