19.6% More Unmarried Men than Women in Korea as of 2021; Greater Imbalance in Marital Sex Ratio in Non-Capital Areas

• ■Korea has had a skewed sex ratio at birth that exceeds the natural ratio for about thirty years since 1970.

• ■North and South Gyeongsang Provinces, which had the most unbalanced sex ratio at birth in the 1980s and 1990s, also have the most unbalanced sex ratio in marriage.

• ■The generation affected by sex ratio imbalances at birth may experience similar imbalances at marriage when they reach marriageable age.

KIHASA has released the Health and Welfare Issue & Focus, No. 449, titled 'Sex-Ratio-at-Birth Imalances and the Sex Ratio at Marriage in Korea.' The lead author of the study is Cho Sungho, Associate Research Fellow of the Population Policy Planning Group at KIHASA.

According to Dr. Cho, Korea's sex ratio at birth remained higher than the natural ratio for about 30 years after first exceeding the natural ratio in the 1970s. He initiated this study out of concern that those born during these years of imbalanced sex ratios at birth could cause imbalances in sex ratios at marriage when they reach reproductive age.

He said that by 2021 there were 19.6 percent more unmarried men than unmarried women nationwide, and that these imbalances were much more severe in non-capital areas than in the capital region, pointing out that the capital region had a smaller imbalance in the sex ratio at marriage compared to the national average, while non-capital areas had a larger imbalance.

He also stated, "The regions with the most severe imbalance in the sex ratio at marriage are North Gyeongsang and South Gyeongsang Provinces, where the number of unmarried men is more than 30% higher than that of unmarried women," adding, "These regions are characterized by a very unbalanced sex ratio at birth compared to other regions in the 1980s and 1990s."

Summary of the Brief:

• ■From the early 1980s to 2007, spanning about thrity years, Korea's sex ratio at birth remained higher than the natural ratio, having first exceeded it in the 1970s. This study arose out of concerns that those born during these years of imbalanced sex ratios at birth could, upon reaching reproductive age, engender imbalances in the sex ratio at marriage.

• ■For the analysis, I calculated the sex ratio of the current unmarried population, the hypothetical matching index for the unmarried population, and Schoen's (1983) S-index.

• ■The results reveal that imbalances in the sex ratio at birth, while nonexistent in the early 1990s, worsened from the mid-2000s onward, to the extent that by 2021 there were 19.6 percent more unmarried men than unmarried women nationwide. Over the years, imbalances in the sex ratio at marriage have become much more severe in non-capital areas than in the capital region.