The number of South Korean women who gave birth in their 40s has almost doubled over the past decade as more women delay marriage to seek careers, a government report showed Monday.
A total of 10,635 mothers aged 40 and over gave birth to babies in 2011, nearly double the 5,445 women tallied in 2001, according to the report by Statistics Korea. The figure also spiked 14.5 percent from 9,291 in 2010.
The number previously hit a record high of nearly 9,000 women in 1981 before plunging to around 2,000 in 1986 and then beginning to rise steadily since 1994.
In line with the increase, babies born to women aged 40 or older were at an all-time high of 2.26 percent last year, topping the 2 percent mark for the first time.
Of all childbirths last year, 9.77 percent had fathers who were 40 years old or older, compared to 4.81 percent in 2003 when the government first began to tracking related data, according to the report.
Officials said more women are giving birth to children in their fifth decade as many delay marriage in order to seek careers.
"The average age at which people get married has been increasing as more people delay marriage to obtain a higher education and join the labor force," said Seo Un-joo, a researcher at Statistics Korea.
South Korean men and women tied the knot for the first time at an average age of 31.9 and 29.1 years, respectively, in 2011, up 2.4 years and 2.3 years from a decade earlier, according to the report. (Yonhap)