South Korea: More matchmakers, fewer wedding halls – and more marriages again
Over ten years, the number of matchmaking agencies in South Korea has risen by 34 percent, while wedding halls have fallen by 31 percent. Couples invest in finding a partner but save on the ceremony.
Symbolic image · Photo: kallerna / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
South Koreans are more willing to spend money on finding a partner, but less on the wedding itself. According to data from the National Tax Service, 2,176 matchmaking agencies were registered nationwide in August 2026 – 557 or 34.4 percent more than in 2016 (1,619). In 2025, their number exceeded 2,000 for the first time (2,090). Wedding halls, by contrast, are declining: from 1,098 in 2016 to 762 in August 2026, a drop of 30.6 percent. The low point came in 2024 with 714 venues.
The trend coincides with a marked recovery in marriages. According to the statistics portal KOSIS, their number fell to a record low of 191,690 in 2022 and has risen for three years in a row since then – to 240,326 in 2025, the highest figure since 2018. In July 2026, 22,282 marriages took place, 9.3 percent more than a year earlier; from January to July the total was 146,656, the most in eight years.
The reports cite as reasons that the second 'echo boom' generation, born between 1991 and 1995, has reached the typical age for marriage and that young people's attitudes towards marriage have improved. Consumer economist Lee Hong-ju of Sookmyung Women's University sees pragmatic behaviour: couples invest actively in the chance to meet a partner but save on the ceremony. When it comes to meeting people, efficiency and reliability are becoming increasingly important.
This article is for information only and is not legal, tax, financial or medical advice. Figures as of the date stated.