Economics

South Korea’s Marriages Jump, Offering Hopes for Aging Nation

Demographic research indicates the earlier a couple gets married, the more likely they are to have multiple children.

Photographer: Jean Chung/Bloomberg

South Korean marriages increased the most on record in a hopeful sign for a nation that has been ramping up efforts to boost the world’s lowest fertility rate behind growing economic pessimism.

More than 222,000 couples tied the knot in 2024 in a 14.8% jump from a year earlier, marking an acceleration from a 1% rise a year earlier, according to data released Thursday from the national statistics office. That’s the biggest increase in data going back to 1990.