The number of children entering elementary schools in South Korea is expected to fall below 300,000 for the first time next year amid the country’s low birth rate, data showed Sunday.
The number of first graders, born in 2020, entering elementary school for the 2027 academic year, is expected to fall short of 300,000, just three years after dropping below the 400,000 mark, according to data compiled by the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS) and the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI).
The decline comes as only 272,337 babies were born in 2020, down 10 percent from a year earlier, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Data and Statistics, Yonhap News Agency reported.
A total of 301,442 students enrolled as elementary school freshmen this year, barely surpassing the 300,000 mark and marking the lowest level since 1964, when the ministry began compiling related data.
The figure is expected to fall further next year to roughly one-fourth of the 1.05 million recorded in 1968.
The shrinking school-age population has raised concerns over school closures, particularly in rural areas, and a widening education gap between regions.
The number of new first graders at elementary schools is projected to continue shrinking until 2030, though the figure is expected to remain above 200,000 as childbirths rebounded in 2024.
The number of births rose to 238,317 in 2024 and 254,341 in 2025, following years of decline.
Meanwhile, the number of multicultural marriages in South Korea edged down in 2025 from a year earlier, data showed on Thursday, taking up 8.9 per cent of all marriages.
The country recorded 21,399 multicultural marriages last year, down 0.2 per cent, or 51, from 21,450 in 2024, according to data from South Korea’s Ministry of Data and Statistics.
Marriages involving foreign wives accounted for 71.4 per cent of multicultural marriages, followed by those with foreign husbands at 18.9 per cent and those with naturalised citizens at 9.7 per cent.
The average age for first marriages was 37.1 years for husbands and 29.7 years for wives.
Husbands were older than their wives in 75.2 per cent of multicultural marriages. In 36.1 per cent of all multicultural marriages, the husband was at least 10 years older than his wife.
Vietnamese wives accounted for 25.3 per cent of all multicultural marriages, followed by Chinese wives at 15.1 per cent and Thai wives at 9.2 per cent.
The corresponding figures for husbands from the United States, China and Vietnam were 6.8 per cent, 5.6 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, the number of divorces among multicultural couples rose 1.4 per cent on-year to 8,104 in 2025.
The number of babies born to multicultural families fell 0.5 per cent on-year to 13,347, the latest findings showed.
–IANS
