Marriage Cliff Hits Lowest in 48 Years... Rapid Increase in "Hwanghon Divorce"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Kwang-ho] Last year, the number of marriages recorded was approximately 230,000, marking the lowest figure in 48 years since 1971. The number of marriages has been on a declining trend annually.

According to the '2019 Marriage and Divorce Statistics' released by Statistics Korea on the 19th, the number of marriages in South Korea last year was 239,200, a decrease of 18,500 (7.2%) compared to the previous year.

This is the lowest number in 48 years since 1971 (239,457 marriages) and has been declining since 2011.

The annual number of marriages exceeded 400,000 in the mid-1990s, but dropped to the 300,000 range after the 1997 financial crisis, and fell to the 200,000 range starting in 2016.

The crude marriage rate, which indicates the number of marriages per 1,000 people, also fell by 0.3 to 4.7 compared to the previous year, marking the lowest since statistics began in 1970.

By age group, the number of marriages significantly decreased for men in their early 30s and women in their late 20s compared to the previous year. Marriages among men in their early 30s dropped by 9,600 (-10.4%), and among women in their late 20s by 8,800 (-9.7%).

The marriage rate was highest for men in their early 30s at 51.5 and for women in their late 20s at 50.4.

The average age at first marriage was 33.4 years for men and 30.6 years for women, both increasing by 0.2 years compared to the previous year.

On the other hand, the number of divorces last year was 110,800, an increase of 2.0% compared to the previous year. The number of divorces had decreased for three consecutive years until 2017 but turned to an upward trend in 2018.

The divorce rate was highest among men in their late 40s at 8.6 and women in their early 40s at 9.0.

The duration of marriage before divorce was longest for 'gray divorces' lasting over 20 years, accounting for 34.7%, followed by divorces within 4 years at 21.0%.

Marriages with foreigners totaled 23,600, an increase of 900 (4.2%) compared to the previous year, while divorces in such marriages decreased by 3.4%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.