More than 70 percent of multicultural marriages in South Korea last year involved foreign wives and Korean husbands, and husbands in over one-third of such unions were at least a decade older than their wives, government data showed Friday.
According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, marriages between Korean men and foreign women accounted for 71.4 percent of the country's 21,399 multicultural marriages in 2025, while marriages between Korean women and foreign men made up 18.9 percent. The remaining 9.7 percent involved naturalized Korean citizens.
Vietnam was the most common country of origin among foreign-born and naturalized wives, accounting for 25.3 percent, followed by China at 15.1 percent and Thailand at 9.2 percent. The shares of all three countries declined from the previous year.
Marriages involving Japanese wives, however, rose sharply to 1,494, up 25.8 percent on-year. They accounted for 7.0 percent of all multicultural marriages, with both the number and proportion reaching their highest levels since the government began compiling the statistics in 2008.
Among foreign-born and naturalized husbands, the United States was the most common country of origin at 6.8 percent, followed by China at 5.6 percent and Vietnam at 3.6 percent.
Husbands at least 10 years older in 36% of multicultural marriages
Meanwhile, 36.1 percent of multicultural marriages involved husbands at least 10 years older than their wives.
The age gap was particularly pronounced compared with marriages between Korean-born spouses, of which only 2.7 percent involved husbands at least 10 years older than their wives. The proportion was more than 13 times higher among multicultural couples.
The average age at first marriage was 37.1 for husbands and 29.7 for wives, unchanged from the previous year. Husbands were older than their wives in 75.2 percent of multicultural unions, while wives were older in 18.8 percent of cases and spouses were the same age in 6.1 percent.
Men aged 45 and older accounted for the largest share of foreign husbands in multicultural marriages at 31.8 percent, while women in their late 20s made up the largest share of foreign wives at 22.9 percent. Another 4.9 percent of wives were aged 19 or younger.
Multicultural marriages decline despite nationwide rebound
The figures came as multicultural marriages and births declined in 2025, bucking a nationwide rebound in both marriages and childbirths.
The number of multicultural marriages fell 0.2 percent from the previous year, down 51, according to the ministry's 2025 Multicultural Population Dynamics report.
In contrast, the total number of marriages nationwide rose 8.1 percent to 240,326 over the same period. As a result, multicultural marriages accounted for 8.9 percent of all marriages, down 0.7 percentage point from 9.6 percent in 2024.
The decline in multicultural marriages was attributed partly to fewer marriages involving naturalized Korean citizens, although marriages involving foreign spouses increased.
A ministry official explained that a decline in the number of naturalized citizens between 2021 and 2022 may have contributed to the decrease in marriages involving naturalized Koreans.
A base effect following several years of rapid growth also contributed to the decrease. Multicultural marriages had increased 25.1 percent in 2022, 17.2 percent in 2023 and 5.0 percent in 2024.
Multicultural divorces rise
Meanwhile, the number of multicultural divorces rose 1.4 percent to 8,104 in 2025, even as divorces nationwide fell 3.3 percent to approximately 88,000.
Multicultural divorces accounted for 9.2 percent of all divorces, up 0.4 percentage point from the previous year.
Of these divorces, 33.4 percent involved marriages that had lasted less than five years, compared with 14.6 percent of divorces between Korean-born spouses. The proportion was more than twice as high among multicultural couples, although it had declined from 40.0 percent in 2015.
The average duration of marriages ending in divorce among multicultural couples was 10.2 years, down 0.1 year from 2024.
Multicultural births fall
The number of babies born into multicultural families also declined, falling 0.5 percent to 13,347 in 2025 from 13,416 a year earlier. The decrease followed a 10.4 percent increase in 2024.
Nationwide, however, the number of births climbed 6.7 percent to 254,341. Multicultural births consequently accounted for 5.2 percent of all births, down from 5.6 percent in 2024.
Firstborn children accounted for 60.2 percent of multicultural births, followed by second-born children at 27.0 percent and third-born or later children at 12.9 percent.
The share of third-born or later children was 6.9 percentage points higher among multicultural families than among families with two Korean-born parents. However, the proportion has been declining, from 13.8 percent in 2023 to 13.7 percent in 2024 and 12.9 percent in 2025.
The ministry attributed the decline in multicultural births partly to a decrease in marriages involving women from Vietnam and China, who account for a large share of births in multicultural families.
Vietnamese mothers accounted for the largest share of births at 27.9 percent, followed by Chinese mothers at 10.2 percent and Japan at 6.3 percent.
By region, Gyeonggi Province recorded the largest number of multicultural births at 3,910, followed by Seoul with 2,360 and Incheon with 953. North Jeolla Province and South Chungcheong Province recorded the highest shares of multicultural births, at 6.5 percent each, while Sejong had the lowest at 2.7 percent.
seungku99@heraldcorp.com
