One out of 10 South Korean females who turn 50 in 2025 is expected to be single, a recent report showed.

According to the study by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on Wednesday, unmarried women, who accounted for 3.8 percent of all Korean women in 2015, would increase to 7.1 percent in 2020 and 10.5 percent in 2025. 

In the 1990s, less than 1 percent of South Korean women were single. 

Korean women’s negative perception of marriage is the main attributor to the rapid growth, the report said.

“Negative perceptions of marriage ultimately lower a marriage rate, which can be a key factor for the low birthrates of South Korea,” said the report.

The trend of choosing single life is not confined to women.

According to the state-run Statistics Korea, the ratios of unmarried men and women responding positively to the question, whether marriage is a must, declined for the past 16 years. In particular, women had a less positive viewpoint on marital value than men.

Forty-four percent of women aged 25 to 29 viewed marriage positively in 2014, a decrease of 8.4 percent from 1998. Men’s positive response to marriage stood at 77 percent in 1998 and dropped to 55.2 percent in 2014.

By Byun Hee-jin (hjbandi9@heraldcorp.com)