第2139期:Marriages in South Korea Rise after Years of Decrease

The number of marriages in South Korea rose in 2023 for the first time in more than ten years. 2023年，韩国结婚人数十多年来首次上升。 

The increase came after the pandemic which forced some couples to delay marriage plans. But the data did not point to a continued increase in the aging country. 这一增长是在大流行迫使一些夫妇推迟结婚计划之后发生的。 但数据并未表明老龄化国家持续增加。 

The small rise in marriages last year comes as its fertility rate continued to decrease. South Korea’s fertility rate, or the average number of children born per woman, is already the world’s lowest. It is falling because women are concerned about their careers, the cost of raising children, or are deciding not to have babies. 去年结婚人数小幅上升之际，生育率持续下降。 韩国的生育率，或者说每个女性平均生育的孩子数量，已经是世界上最低的。 该数字正在下降，因为女性担心自己的职业、抚养孩子的成本，或者决定不生孩子。 

Government data showed a total of 193,657 couples got married last year. That is up 1.0 percent from 191,690 a year earlier. It is the first increase since 2011. 政府数据显示，去年共有 193,657 对夫妇结婚。 这比去年同期的 191,690 人增加了 1.0%。 这是自2011年以来的首次增长。 

That compares with a 0.4 percent drop in 2022. That was when South Korea started to ease restrictions on social gatherings put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The restrictions saw the number of marriages decrease 9.8 percent in 2021 and 10.7 percent in 2020. 相比之下，2022 年下降了 0.4%。当时韩国开始放宽 COVID-19 大流行期间对社交聚会的限制。 这些限制导致 2021 年结婚数量下降 9.8%，2020 年下降 10.7%。 

The 2023 number of marriages, however, remains well below the 239,159 marriages seen in 2019. And that compares to a yearly number of more than 320,000 recorded 10 years earlier. 然而，2023 年的结婚人数仍远低于 2019 年的 239,159 桩婚姻。相比之下，10 年前记录的每年结婚人数超过 320,000 桩。 

A government official said that couples delaying marriage was a reason for more marriages in the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023. 一位政府官员表示，夫妇推迟结婚是2022年下半年和2023年上半年结婚人数增加的一个原因。 

"In the second half of 2023, however, marriages fell year-on-year, indicating that people who had been delaying marriage due to COVID-19 have now mostly got married," the official told reporters. 这位官员告诉记者：“然而，2023年下半年，结婚人数同比下降，这表明因COVID-19而推迟结婚的人现在大多已经结婚了。” 

The 2023 increase was also well below the increases seen in nearby China. Marriages in China rose 12.4 percent last year. That happened as more couples got married after delays caused by the pandemic. 2023 年的增幅也远低于邻近中国的增幅。 去年中国的结婚人数增长了12.4%。 随着越来越多的夫妇因大流行造成的延误而结婚，这种情况发生了。 

Most South Koreans say high housing costs are the biggest reason for getting married. Many also see marriage as the first step before having a baby in the Asian country. 大多数韩国人表示，高昂的住房成本是结婚的最大原因。 许多人还认为结婚是在这个亚洲国家生孩子之前的第一步。 

The Yonhap news agency reported a recent study of 500 South Koreans aged between 19 and 23. It showed that 50.4 percent of those asked did not plan on getting married or having children. 韩联社最近报道了一项针对 500 名 19 岁至 23 岁韩国人的研究。结果显示，50.4% 的受访者没有结婚或生孩子的计划。 

The government says it will take “extraordinary measure” to deal the low birth rate. Political parties are promising public housing and easier loans for young South Koreans ahead of the April legislative election. 政府表示将采取“非常措施”解决低出生率问题。 在四月立法选举之前，各政党承诺为韩国年轻人提供公共住房和更宽松的贷款。 

Marriages with a foreign national greatly increased for a second year, increasing 18.3 percent to 19,717. 与外国人结婚的人数连续第二年大幅增加，增加了 18.3%，达到 19,717 人。