‘Gray divorces’ overtake early-marriage splits for first time

Gray divorces among couples married for more than 30 years outnumbered divorces among couples married for less than five years in 2025 for the first time since South Korea began compiling related data in 1990, government data showed Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, 15,628 couples who had been married for more than 30 years divorced last year, exceeding the 14,392 couples who divorced within five years of marriage.

When the data was first collected in 1990, divorces among couples married for less than five years stood at 18,053, vastly outnumbering gray divorces, which totaled just 368. Since then, gray divorces have gradually increased, while early-stage divorces have declined for six consecutive years since 2020.

The share of older women seeking legal divorce advice has also risen.

According to the Korea Legal Aid Center for Family Relations, women aged 60 or older accounted for more than 22 percent of divorce-related legal consultations in February, nearly four times the roughly 6 percent recorded in 2005.

Experts attribute the shift partly to South Korea’s changing demographics. The country’s rapidly aging population has reduced the number of young married couples, while increasing the share of older couples in the population.

According to the ministry, people aged 50 or older accounted for 45.14 percent of South Korea’s population in 2025, nearly double the 23.69 percent recorded in 2005. Over the same period, the share of those in their 20s and 30s fell from 33.75 percent to 25.37 percent.

Longer life expectancy has also made more older couples willing to live independently later in life. Women’s higher levels of education and economic participation have also reduced their financial dependence on their spouses, experts said.

“The changing times and shifting values have created an environment in which older couples are less dependent on one another,” Son Jung-hye, an attorney at law firm Hyemyung who specializes in family matters, told local media.

Analysts say rising housing prices may also be a factor behind the increase in gray divorces. As real estate values rise, the assets each spouse can receive through property division may also increase, reducing financial concerns that may previously have discouraged some older couples from divorcing.