SEOUL - The number of marriages in South Korea increased 8.1 percent from a year earlier in 2025 to post the highest figure in seven years, government data showed Thursday.
A total of 240,300 marriages were reported last year, up from 222,400 cases in 2024 and marking the third consecutive year of increase, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
The 2025 tally was similar to the pre-pandemic level of 239,200 cases posted in 2019. The number of marriages hovered around the 200,000 threshold from 2020-2023, as many couples postponed the event during the pandemic, before the tally rebounded to 222,000 in 2024.
The ministry attributed the recent rise in marriages to an increase in population in their early 30s and the concentration of marriages that had been delayed during the pandemic.
Positive perception toward marriage has also been increasing among singles, it added.
The average age of first marriage for men came to 33.9 in 2025, while the corresponding figure for women stood at 31.6.
Ten years ago, men got married at an average age of 32.6 and women did so at 30.
The number of divorces decreased 3.3 percent on-year to 88,000 in 2025.
This undated file photo shows a wedding dress shop in Seoul. (Yonhap)
Data also showed that the number of marriages between South Koreans and foreign spouses dropped 0.3 percent on-year to 21,000 cases in 2025, snapping the third consecutive year of rise from 2021.
Of the total marriages in the country last year, multicultural marriages accounted for 8.6 percent, down 0.7 percentage point from 2024.
Vietnamese women made up the largest share of all foreign wives at 30.5 percent, followed by Chinese women at 16.1 percent and Thai women at 12.5 percent.
Among foreign husbands, those from the United States accounted for 28.2 percent, followed by those from China at 16.6 percent and Vietnam at 14.8 percent.
The number of divorces among multicultural couples increased 4.2 percent on-year to 6,000.
