The number of marriages in South Korea rose in 2023 for the first time in more than ten years.
2023年韩国结婚人数出现十多年来的首次增长。
The increase came after the pandemic which forced some couples to delay marriage plans. But the data did not point to a continued increase in the aging country.
这一增长出现在疫情迫使一些夫妇推迟结婚计划之后。但该数据并未指向老龄化国家结婚率的持续增长。
The small rise in marriages last year comes as its fertility rate continued to decrease. South Korea's fertility rate, or the average number of children born per woman, is already the world's lowest. It is falling because women are concerned about their careers, the cost of raising children, or are deciding not to have babies.
去年韩国结婚率小幅上升之际，其生育率持续下降。韩国的生育率，即每个妇女平均生育的孩子数量，已经是全球最低。下降的原因是女性担心自己的职业、抚养孩子的成本，或者决定不生孩子。
Government data showed a total of 193,657 couples got married last year. That is up 1.0 percent from 191,690 a year earlier. It is the first increase since 2011.
韩国官方数据显示，去年共有193657对夫妇结婚。这比前年同期的191690对增长了1.0%。这是自2011年以来的首次增长。
That compares with a 0.4 percent drop in 2022. That was when South Korea started to ease restrictions on social gatherings put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The restrictions saw the number of marriages decrease 9.8 percent in 2021 and 10.7 percent in 2020.
相比之下，2022年下降了0.4%。当时韩国开始放松新冠大流行期间对社交聚会的限制。这些限制见证了2021年和2020年的结婚人数分别减少了9.8%和10.7%。
The 2023 number of marriages, however, remains well below the 239,159 marriages seen in 2019. And that compares to a yearly number of more than 320,000 recorded 10 years earlier.
然而，2023年的结婚人数仍远低于2019年的239159人。相比之下，10年前录得的年度数据超过32万。
A government official said that couples delaying marriage was a reason for more marriages in the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023.
一位政府官员表示，推迟结婚是2022年下半年和2023年上半年结婚人数增长的原因之一。
"In the second half of 2023, however, marriages fell year-on-year, indicating that people who had been delaying marriage due to COVID-19 have now mostly got married," the official told reporters.
这位官员告诉记者：“然而，2023年下半年，结婚人数同比下降，这表明因新冠肺炎而推迟结婚的人现在大多结婚了。”
The 2023 increase was also well below the increases seen in nearby China. Marriages in China rose 12.4 percent last year. That happened as more couples got married after delays caused by the pandemic.
韩国2023年的增幅也远低于近邻中国的增幅。去年，中国的结婚人数增长了12.4%。随着越来越多因疫情推迟的夫妇结婚，这种情况发生了。
Most South Koreans say high housing costs are the biggest reason for getting married. Many also see marriage as the first step before having a baby in the Asian country.
大多数韩国人表示，高昂的房价是他们结婚的最大原因。在这个亚洲国家，许多人还将结婚视为生孩子前的第一步。
The Yonhap news agency reported a recent study of 500 South Koreans aged between 19 and 23. It showed that 50.4 percent of those asked did not plan on getting married or having children.
韩联社报道了最近一项针对500名年龄在19岁至23岁之间的韩国人的研究。调查显示，50.4%的受访者没有结婚或生孩子的打算。
The government says it will take "extraordinary measure" to deal the low birth rate. Political parties are promising public housing and easier loans for young South Koreans ahead of the April legislative election.
政府表示将采取“非常措施”应对低出生率问题。各政党承诺在4月国会选举之前为韩国年轻人提供公共住房和更容易的贷款。
Marriages with a foreign national greatly increased for a second year, increasing 18.3 percent to 19,717.
涉外婚姻连续第二年大幅增长，去年增长了18.3%到19717对。
I'm Gregory Stachel.
我是格雷戈里·斯塔切尔。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)