South Korea’s multicultural marriages fall 0.2% to 21,399
Total marriages rose 8.1% to 240,326 in 2025, while marriages between Korean men and Japanese women rose 25.8% to a record 1,494.
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Total marriages rose 8.1% to 240,326 in 2025, while marriages between Korean men and Japanese women rose 25.8% to a record 1,494.
South Korea recorded 21,399 multicultural marriages in 2025, down 0.2% in the first decline in four years, according to figures released 5 November 2026 by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, formerly Statistics Korea. Total marriages nationwide rose 8.1% to 240,326. Such marriages made up 8.9% of all marriages, down 0.7 percentage points from the year before.
The ministry counts a marriage as multicultural when a Korean national marries a foreign national, or at least one spouse acquired Korean nationality through naturalization or recognition.
Multicultural marriages fell from 24,721 in 2019 to 16,177 in 2020 and 13,926 in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, then rose for three consecutive years to 17,428 in 2022, 20,431 in 2023 and 21,450 in 2024.
Marriages between South Korean men and Japanese women rose 25.8% to 1,494 in 2025, the highest number since the series began in 2008. A ministry official suggested that Korean culture, including television dramas, appeared to be improving attitudes toward Korea, VnExpress said, citing Korea JoongAng Daily. That is a suggested explanation, rather than an established cause of the increase.
| Nationality | Marriages | Change from a year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| Vietnamese | 5,409 | -5.8% |
| Chinese | 3,224 | -5.2% |
| Thai | 1,960 | -8.8% |
Marriages involving naturalized citizens fell 9% to 2,076, while marriages involving foreign wives and foreign husbands rose 0.1% and 3.5%, respectively.
A ministry official said pandemic-related difficulties with citizenship procedures reduced naturalizations in 2021 and 2022 and, in turn, marriages involving naturalized citizens. The official suggested that this decline also contributed to fewer births after a delay.
Births in multicultural families fell 0.5% to 13,347, or 5.2% of all births, down 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier. Nationwide births rose 6.7% to 254,341.
Divorces among multicultural couples rose 1.4% to 8,104, while divorces nationwide fell 3.3%. Multicultural couples accounted for 9.2% of all divorces, up from 8.8%. A ministry official suggested that the increase reflected growth in multicultural marriages over the preceding few years.
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