SEOUL - South Korean newlyweds recorded an all-time high for the amount of combined debt in 2022, a report showed on Dec 11.

The median amount of combined debt for these households in 2022 was 164 million won (S$167,000), according to Statistics Korea.

It marked an all-time high and jump of 7.3 per cent from 2021.

It also showed that 89 per cent of such couples overall are in debt.

The statistics agency polled couples who had been married for five years or less, and also referred to them as recently married couples.

While many are now shouldering more debt than ever, more are also double-income couples and earn higher wages on average.

The percentage of recently married dual-income married couples went from 54.9 per cent in 2021 to 57.2 per cent in 2022.

Their average combined household income rose 6.1 per cent to 67.9 million won.

Newlywed couples that consist of two working spouses are less likely to have children, compared with those in which only one spouse worked, the report said.

The number of recently married couples in South Korea has been on a downward trajectory since the statistics agency started tallying the figure in 2015.

There were 1.44 million recently married couples in 2015, which dropped each year from 1.1 million in 2021 and 1.03 million in 2022.

In 2023, the number is projected to drop below one million for the first time, as 233,000 couples that were in their fifth year of marriage will no longer be included in the figure.

The agency projected the number of newlywed couples in 2023 to be around 190,000. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK