More and more Koreans are getting married, but they still seem reluctant to have children due to rising living costs and education expenses.

Korea ranks third with a marriage rate of 7.13 per 1,000 people among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members in 2009, according to its data.

Korea follows Turkey, which has a marriage rate of 9.04, and the U.S., which has a rate of 7.31.

Meanwhile, Korea continues to rank the lowest in fertility rate at 1.23 per woman in 2010, followed by Hungary’s 1.26, Portugal’s 1.38 and Poland’s 1.38.

Korea had the fastest drop in birth rate after Mexico. Korea’s birth rate recorded 4.53 in 1970.

Beside rising inflationary pressure, the low birth rate is attributable to Koreans pushing back their marriage plans with the average age for tying the knot at around 30, up from the mid-20s.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)