The number of marriages in Korea climbed to a seven-year high in 2025, rebounding to prepandemic levels, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, Thursday. Experts point to a growing population of people in their early 30s and a gradual shift in young people’s attitudes toward marriage as key drivers behind the rise. A total of 240,300 couples tied the knot last year, up 8.1 percent from a year earlier. The figure had been in steady decline from 2018 to 2022, plunging from 257,600 to an all-time low of 191,700. It began to recover in 2023, marking a third straight year of gains in 2025. The average age at first marriage stood at 33.9 for men and 31.6 for women. Meanwhile, divorces fell 3.3 percent year-on-year to 88,000. “The increase in marriages can largely be explained by the so-called ‘echo boom generation’ — those born between 1991 and 1996 during a temporary rise in births — reaching prime marrying age,” said Hong Sok-chul, an economics professor at Seoul National University. “With a larger population in their early 30s, the total number of marriages natura