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The number of marriages grew last year at its fastest rate in 10 years. The belief that the year 2006 on the lunar calendar will bring luck to those who got married encouraged couples to tie the knot.
The National Statistical Office (NSO) reported Tuesday that the number of marriages totaled 332,800 in 2006 _ an average 912 couples tied the knot every day.
Marriages had been decreasing since 1996, but have picked up from 2004.
They increased by 5.2 percent last year, the biggest growth since 1996.
The office attributed it to the effect of a double spring year, meaning there will be two beginnings of spring according to the lunar calendar. Since it is believed that couples getting married in the auspicious year would live happily, more couples were motivated to take the plunge.
The statistics also showed that brides are older than they used to be. The average age of a bride in her first marriage was 27.8, 0.1 years older than the previous year. Men averaged 30.9 years old in their first marriage.
The percentage of marriages that are the first for both bride and groom was 77.2 percent, 3.3 percentage points up from a year ago. The number of remarriages fell for the first time in six years.
The ratio of couples in which the woman is older than the man continued to increase, reaching 12.8 percent last year.
International marriages, which surged 21.6 percent in 2005, dipped by 8 percent last year, totaling 39,700. The office said that the plan to ease entrance and employment for Korean-Chinese citizens pulled down the international marriage rate drastically. Marriage with Koreans is often abused as a means to work here.
Still, around half of Korean men marrying a foreigner had a wife from China.
The number of Korean women tying the knot with foreign husbands decreased 20.6 percent.
Four out of 10 foreign grooms came from Japan, followed by China and the United States.
The statistics showed that four out of 10 grooms from rural and fishing villages last year married a foreign bride. The ratio has continued to surge, up from 27.4 percent in 2004.
It was notable that the number of brides aged between 15 and 19 surged 32 percent from a year ago. ``The marriage of Korean men with teenaged Vietnamese women, which surged 82 percent last year, pushed up the total number of young brides,’’ said Park Kyung-ae, of the NSO.
In the case of grooms, on the other hand, growth among those aged 35 to 39 was notable. Marriages in this age bracket grew 13.3 percent.
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