離開
進入《中英對照讀新聞》Number of marriages hits record low 結婚率創新低
政府統計數據週四顯示，去年南韓結婚人數創新低，反映人們普遍晚婚的趨勢。（情境照）
◎茅毅
South Korea saw a record-low number of marriages last year, reflecting the widespread trend of people getting married later in life, government statistics showed Thursday.
政府統計數據週四顯示，去年南韓結婚人數創新低，反映人們普遍晚婚的趨勢。
According to Statistics Korea, the number of new marriages sat at 281,800 in 2016, down almost 7 percent from the previous year.
根據韓國統計廳，2016年新婚人數為28萬1800，年減幾乎7%。
This was the first time the number fell below the 300,000-mark since the institute began collecting data in 2000. The number of people newly married in May, which is typically peak season for marriages, also hit its lowest number last year, standing at around 25,000.
自該廳2000年開始蒐集資料以來，這是人數首度降到低於30萬。5月份通常是結婚旺季，去年5月新婚人數為2萬5000左右，也寫下該月份歷史新低。
The key reason for the fall was the increasing number of those in their 20s wishing to avoid or delay getting married, officials said."Due to the unemployment crisis and changing social patterns, the marriage rate among those in their 20s and 30s is gradually falling each year," said Lee Ji-yeon from Statistics Korea.
官員表示，人數減少的主因在於愈來愈多20歲世代青年欲避免或延後步入婚姻。統計廳的李智年（譯音）指出，「由於失業危機及社會形態變遷，20歲和30歲世代青年的結婚率正逐年下降」。
新聞辭典
reflect：動詞，反射、反映、反省。Schools should reflect cultural differences.（學校應反映文化差異。）
fall below：動詞片語，跌（降）到比某事物更低的水準（標準）。When the audience fell below one hundred a night, the show was cancelled.（當一晚的觀眾人數掉到100以下時，表演就被取消了。）
due to：介係詞，由於、起因為…。His death was due to natural causes.（他的死因係自然死亡。）
