Multicultural marriages fell and divorces rose last year; births also declined

[Financial News] Last year, multicultural marriages declined while divorces increased. Births in multicultural families also fell, pointing to an overall slowdown in key indicators for the multicultural population, from marriage and childbirth to family stability.
According to the 2025 Multicultural Population Vital Statistics released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on the 5th, there were 21,399 multicultural marriages last year, down 0.2% from the previous year. Multicultural marriages accounted for 8.9% of all marriages, a decrease of 0.7 percentage points from the previous year.
By type, marriages involving foreign wives were the most common, at 71.4%. Marriages involving foreign husbands accounted for 18.9%, and those involving naturalized citizens for 9.7%. Compared with the previous year, the shares of marriages involving foreign wives and foreign husbands rose by 0.2 and 0.7 percentage points, respectively, while the share involving naturalized citizens fell by 0.9 percentage points.
In multicultural marriages, the average age was 37.1 for husbands marrying for the first time and 29.7 for wives, little changed from the previous year. In terms of the age gap between spouses, the husband was older in the largest share of couples, at 75.2%. Notably, couples in which the husband was at least 10 years older accounted for 36.1% of the total.
By contrast, multicultural divorces increased. There were 8,104 multicultural divorces, up 1.4% (112 cases) from the previous year. Their share of all divorces also rose by 0.4 percentage points to 9.2%.
By type, divorces involving foreign wives accounted for the largest share, at 52.6%. Divorces involving naturalized citizens accounted for 31.7%, and those involving foreign husbands for 15.7%. Compared with the previous year, the share of divorces involving foreign wives rose by 2.7 percentage points, while the shares involving foreign husbands and naturalized citizens fell by 0.4 and 2.3 percentage points, respectively.
The average age of husbands and wives who divorced in multicultural marriages was 50.7 and 41.6, respectively, up 0.2 and 0.4 years from the previous year. The average duration of marriage was 10.2 years, 0.1 years shorter than the previous year.
Births in multicultural families also declined. There were 13,347 multicultural births, down 0.5% (69 births) from the previous year. Multicultural births accounted for 5.2% of all births, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points. By type, children born to foreign mothers made up the largest share, at 62.3%, followed by children born to foreign fathers at 23.2% and children born to naturalized citizens at 14.5%. 


[email protected] Kim Chan-mi Reporter