Statistics Korea reported multicultural marriages increased by 17.2 percent to 20,431 cases in 2023, compared to the previous year.
International marriages accounted for 10.6 percent of all marriages in the country, up 1.5 percentage points year-on-year. The proportion recovered from the pandemic-era low of 7.2 percent in 2021.
Marriages involving foreign wives accounted for 69.8 percent, followed by those with foreign husbands at 17.9 percent and naturalized citizens at 12.3 percent.
By nationality, Vietnamese women represented the largest group of foreign spouses at 27.9 percent, followed by Chinese women at 17.4 percent and Thai women at 9.9 percent.
Among foreign husbands, Chinese and American men tied at 6.9 percent each, followed by Vietnamese men at 3.9 percent.
The data also showed divorces among multicultural couples increased for the first time in 13 years, rising by 3.9 percent to 8,158 cases. The average marriage duration was 10.1 years.
Children from multicultural families accounted for 5.3 percent of all births. While total births in Korea decreased by 7.7 percent, multicultural births declined by 3 percent to 12,150.
The gender ratio among multicultural births was 110.2 boys per 100 girls, higher than the 104.8 ratio among Korean couples.
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