(MENAFN) South Korea's international marriages expanded for a third consecutive year, driven predominantly by unions between South Korean men and foreign women, government data disclosed Thursday.

Marriages between South Korean nationals and foreign spouses climbed 5.0 percent year-over-year to 21,450 in 2024, following increases of 25.1 percent in 2022 and 17.2 percent in 2023, the Ministry of Data and Statistics reported.

International marriages represented 9.6 percent of all marriages nationwide last year, declining 1.0 percentage point from the prior year's share.

Gender patterns and demographics
Couples pairing South Korean men with foreign women comprised 71.2 percent of total multicultural marriages, while foreign husbands with South Korean wives accounted for 18.2 percent and marriages involving naturalized spouses represented 10.6 percent.

Average ages showed grooms at 37.1 years in transnational marriages, compared to brides at 29.7 years.

Nationality breakdown reveals trends
Among foreign and naturalized brides marrying South Korean men, Vietnamese women led at 26.8 percent, followed by Chinese at 15.9 percent and Thai at 10.0 percent.

U.S. men constituted 7.0 percent of all foreign and naturalized grooms wedding South Korean women, with Chinese at 6.0 percent and Vietnamese at 3.6 percent.

Divorce and birth statistics shift
Divorces among multicultural couples decreased 2.0 percent year-over-year to 7,992 in 2024.

Births to international couples surged 10.4 percent to 13,416 last year, recording the first expansion in 12 years since 2012.

These newborns comprised 5.6 percent of total births in South Korea during 2024, rising 0.3 percentage points from the previous year.

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