Multicultural marriages in S. Korea edge down in 2025

In South Korea, the number of multicultural marriages declined in 2025 compared to the previous year, according to data released on Thursday. Multicultural marriages now account for 8.9 percent of all marriages in the country. Last year, there were 21,399 multicultural marriages, a decrease of 0.2 percent or 51 compared to 21,450 marriages in 2024, as reported by the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

The majority of multicultural marriages involved foreign wives, making up 71.4 percent of the total. Foreign husbands accounted for 18.9 percent, while marriages involving naturalized citizens constituted 9.7 percent. The average age at first marriage was 37.1 years for husbands and 29.7 years for wives. In 75.2 percent of these marriages, the husbands were older than their wives. In 36.1 percent of multicultural marriages, the age gap between the spouses was at least 10 years.

Vietnamese women were the most common foreign wives, accounting for 25.3 percent of all multicultural marriages. Chinese women followed at 15.1 percent, and Thai women at 9.2 percent. Among husbands, those from the United States made up 6.8 percent, China 5.6 percent, and Vietnam 3.6 percent.