[News in Numbers] Newlywed Couples Fall Below '1 Million Pairs' for the First Time... Half Remain 'Childless' Despite Marriage

In recent years, as the trend of avoiding marriage continues, the number of newlyweds married for less than five years fell below one million couples for the first time last year. The proportion of 'childless' newlywed couples who are married but have no children approached half. In contrast, the proportions of dual-income households and home ownership increased, showing a contrasting trend.

Yonhap News

According to the '2023 Newlywed Couples Statistics' released by Statistics Korea, the number of newlywed couples who have been married for less than five years was 974,000 last year, a 5.6% decrease from the previous year.

This marks the first time since the related statistics began in 2015 that the 'one million newlywed couples' threshold has been broken.

The number of newlywed couples, which was 1,472,000 in 2015, has been decreasing by 50,000 to 80,000 couples annually.

Among all newlywed couples, first-marriage couples accounted for 78.9%, and among these first-marriage newlyweds, 47.5% had no children. This is a 1.1 percentage point increase from the previous year, meaning nearly half of first-marriage newlywed couples are 'childless.' The average number of children among first-marriage newlyweds was recorded at 0.63, a decrease of 0.02 from the previous year.

Although the proportion of couples having children and the average number of children decreased, the proportions of dual-income households and home ownership increased.

The proportion of dual-income couples among first-marriage newlyweds was 58.2%, up 1.0 percentage point from the previous year. The proportion of dual-income households was highest in the first year of marriage at 61.8%, dropping to 54.9% by the fifth year.

The annual average income of first-marriage newlyweds was 72.65 million KRW, a 7.0% increase from 67.9 million KRW the previous year. By income bracket, 23.1% earned between 70 million and less than 100 million KRW, the largest group, followed by 21.4% earning between 50 million and less than 70 million KRW, and 20.7% earning over 100 million KRW. Compared to the previous year, the proportion of those earning less than 70 million KRW decreased, while the proportion earning 70 million KRW or more increased, which is interpreted as an effect of the rising share of high-income dual-income couples. The average income of dual-income first-marriage newlyweds was 89.72 million KRW, while single-income couples earned 53.69 million KRW on average.

Among these couples, 40.8% owned a home, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the previous year. This marks the first increase in home ownership rates in five years since 2018.