Fewer S Koreans marry while number of newlyweds, childless couples hits new low
According to Statistics Korea, the number of newly married couples dropped by more than 6 per cent in 2022. Of these, 46.4 per cent have not had children, a record since 2015, with 0.65 children per newlywed couple. The country's total fertility rate stood at 0.79 in the third quarter of 2023, well below the replacement level of 2.1.
Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The number of newlywed couples in South Korea has fallen by more than 6 per cent, to just over one million in 2022.
The proportion for couples with no children has reached an all-time high, this according to Statistics Korea.
A declining birth rate also touches North Korea, so much so that its leader, Kim Jong-un, in a speech, urged his countrywomen to be "more communist" and have more babies.
In South Korea, the number of newlywed couples came to 1.03 million last year, down from the previous year's 1.1 million, according to Statistics Korea.
The newlyweds here refer to couples who tied the knot for the first time in the five years up to November 2022.
The figure has shown a drop from 1.47 million in 2015 to 1.32 million in 2018 and 1.18 million in 2020.
Of the couples, 46.4 per cent did not have children, a record high proportion since 2015, when Statistics Korea began compiling the related data.
The number of babies born to the newlyweds came to 0.65 in 2022, also an all-time low. The comparable figure for 2021 was 0.66.
As many young people choose to postpone or give up on the idea of getting married or having children, South Korea must face a low birth rate and an aging population.
Such a trend appears to be in line with changing social norms and lifestyles, as well as rising housing prices, a tough job market, and an economic slowdown.
The country's total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- came to just 0.79 in the third quarter of 2023, much lower than the replacement level of 2.1 needed to keep South Korea's population at 52 million.
Some 57.2 per cent of newlyweds had dual incomes in 2022, up from 54.9 per cent a year earlier. With dual incomes, they earned a yearly average income of 67.9 million won (US$ 51,482) in 2022, up 6.1 per cent on-year.
Dual-income households earned 84.33 million won, compared to 49.94 million won for single-income couples. Some 89.9 per cent of newly married couples had loans, with the median amount rising 73 per cent on-year to 164.17 million won in 2022.
With respect to regional breakdowns, around 29.9 per cent of couples lived in Gyeonggi province, followed by Seoul with 17.8 per cent, and Incheon in western South Korea with 6.1 per cent. About 40 per cent of the total owned homes.
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