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The number of marriages between Koreans and foreign spouses rose for the third consecutive year in 2024, data showed Thursday.

The number of multicultural marriages reached 20,759 last year, up 1,042 from the previous year's 19,717 cases, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

The number of international marriages sharply declined to around 15,000 in 2020 from about 24,000 the previous year, and slid further to around 13,000 in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the figure rebounded to 16,666 cases in 2022.

Of the total marriages in Korea last year, multicultural marriages accounted for 9.3 percent, down from 10.1 percent the previous year.

Vietnamese women made up the largest share of all foreign wives at 32.1 percent, followed by Chinese women at 16.7 percent and Thai women at 13.7 percent.

Among foreign husbands, those from the United States accounted for 28.9 percent, followed by those from China at 17.6 percent and Vietnam at 15 percent.

The number of divorces among multicultural couples decreased by 1.4 percent year-on-year, totaling 6,022 in 2024.

Meanwhile, the total number of couples tying the knot surged 14.8 percent on-year to 222,422 in 2024.

It marked the sharpest annual increase since the agency began compiling relevant data in 1970, the data showed. (Yonhap)