/ Korea Times file





An increasing number of Korean women are marrying men younger than themselves, data shows.

This is a shift from the traditional notion that a husband should be older or at least be the same age as a married woman.

Data from the Seoul Metropolitan Government shows that the percentage of couples in which the woman is older has surpassed the percentage of same-age couples for the first time since 1991.

The percentage of couples in which the man is older fell from 72.5 percent in 2004 to 68.6 percent last year. The percentage of same age couples increased slightly from 15.1 percent to 15.6 percent.

The percentage of couples in which the woman is older grew from 12.3 percent to 15.8 percent.

The average age for marriage for women was 30.7 years, up 2.4 years from 28.3 in 2004. For men it was 32.8 years last year, 1.9 years up from 30.9 in 2004.