Over half of South Korean teenagers see marriage as not mandatory, data showed Wednesday, implying the country's low birthrate could worsen in the near future.

Around 52.6 percent of South Korean teens said being single won't have a major impact on their lives, with more females agreeing to the belief than their male counterparts at 62.4 percent to 43 percent, the data compiled by Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs showed.

The survey was conducted in October last year on 1,179 students from middle school to the sophomore year of high school.

Among the respondents, 73 percent said they still have intentions to get married in the future, while 8.1 percent said they do not have such plans.

"The result also implies that more teens are aware of the fact that it is complicated for females to achieve both careers and marriage at the same time. This could lead more South Koreans to get married later in life," the institute said, adding it also bodes ill for the country's birthrate.

South Korea has one of the lowest birthrates among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members.

According to data by Statistics Korea, some 435,400 babies were born last year, down around 1,000, or 0.2 percent, from a year earlier. It marked the second straight year of on-year decline and was the lowest since 2005, when around 435,000 babies were born. (Yonhap)