South Korea's marriage rate hits record low

SEOUL, Mar 20 (Xinhua): South Korea's marriage rate hit a new record low last year as the younger generation delayed or gave up on marriage due to economic uncertainties, data showed on Wednesday.

The marriage rate, which gauges the number of marriages per 1,000 people, stood at 5.0 in 2018, according to data from Statistics Korea. It was the lowest since the agency began to compile the data in 1970.

After peaking at 10.6 in 1980, the figure continued to decline from 9.3 in 1990 to 7.0 in 2000 and 6.5 in 2010 each.

The number of couples tying the knot was 257,622 in 2018, down 2.6 percent from the previous year. It marked the lowest in over 40 years, keeping a downward trend for the seventh consecutive year since 2012.

The continued fall in marriage came as the growing number of young people delayed or gave up on marriage amid economic uncertainties.

The country's jobless rate stood at 4.7 percent in February, while the unemployment rate among those aged 15-29 came to 9.5 percent.