Multicultural Births Decreased by 12.8% Last Year... Falling Below 15,000 for the First Time in 13 Years

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The number of births in multicultural families fell below 15,000 last year for the first time in 13 years.

According to the "2021 Multicultural Population Dynamics Statistics" released by Statistics Korea on the 3rd, the number of multicultural births between Koreans and marriage immigrants or naturalized citizens last year was 14,322, a 12.8% decrease compared to the previous year (16,421). This is the largest decline since the statistics began in 2008.

It is the first time since 2008 (13,443) that the annual number of multicultural births has fallen below 15,000. The proportion of multicultural births among total births was 5.5%, down 0.5 percentage points from 6.0% the previous year. As a result, the proportion of multicultural births has turned downward for the first time in six years since 2015.

An official from Statistics Korea analyzed, "The spread of COVID-19 and entry restrictions in 2020 and last year led to a decrease in multicultural marriages, which in turn caused a decline in births."

Last year, multicultural marriages numbered 13,926, a 13.9% decrease from the previous year. The decline in multicultural marriages continued for the second year following the first year of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 (-34.6%). The proportion of multicultural marriages among total marriages (7.2%) also fell by 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous year.

By type, among every 10 multicultural marriages last year, 6 (62.1%) were between foreign wives and Korean husbands. This was followed by foreign husbands (22.0%) and naturalized citizens (16.0%).

The countries of origin for foreign or naturalized wives in multicultural marriages were China (23.9%), Vietnam (13.5%), and Thailand (11.4%) in order. On the other hand, the most common country of origin for foreign or naturalized husbands was the United States (9.4%).

By age, among husbands in multicultural marriages, those aged 45 and over accounted for the largest share (27.7%), while wives in multicultural marriages were mostly in their late 20s (26.0%).

By region, the proportion of multicultural marriages was highest in Seoul (8.2%), followed by Incheon and Chungnam (8.0%), and lowest in Sejong (4.2%) and Daejeon (5.1%).

Last year, multicultural divorces numbered 8,424, a 3.0% decrease from the previous year. The number of deaths among multicultural individuals was 2,528, a 6.4% increase compared to one year earlier.

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