Number of South Korea marriages edges up in 2023 after 11 years of falls

SEOUL — The number of marriages in South Korea rose in 2023 for the first time in more than a decade, lifted by pent-up demand from couples delaying nuptials during the pandemic, but the data did not point to a sustained rebound in a rapidly ageing society.

The slight rise in marriages last year comes after South Korea's fertility rate, already the world's lowest, continued its dramatic decline in 2023, as women concerned about career advancement and the cost of raising children delayed childbirth or decided to not have babies.

A total of 193,657 couples got married last year, up 1.0 per cent from 191,690 a year earlier and the first increase since 2011, Statistics Korea data showed on Tuesday (March 19).

That compares with a 0.4 per cent drop in 2022, when South Korea started to ease restrictions on social gatherings put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic. The curbs had seen the number of marriages slide 9.8 per cent in 2021 and 10.7 per cent in 2020.

The 2023 figure, however, remains well below the 239,159 marriages seen in 2019 and compares with an annual figure of more than 320,000 recorded 10 years earlier.

A government official said that couples delaying nuptials was a factor contributing to more marriages in the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023.

"In the second half of 2023, however, marriages fell year-on-year, indicating that people who had been delaying marriage due to Covid-19 have now mostly got married," the official told a briefing.

The 2023 increase was also well below the jump in neighbouring China, where marriages rose 12.4 per cent last year, as more couples tied the knot after delays due to the pandemic.

Most South Koreans cite high housing costs as the biggest hurdle for getting