Foreign women who migrated to Korea to marry Korean men showed a more than twofold chance of experiencing depression compared to Korean adult women, a government study showed, Monday.

According to the report on women’s health published by the National Institute of Health under the direct control of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, 27.4 percent of the marriage migrant women, as they are often referred to, experienced depression in 2021. The figure was more than double that of Korean women’s average that stood at 14.1 percent.

The depression rate refers to the percentage of people who have experienced persistent feelings of sadness and frustration for more than two weeks within a year, to the extent that it negatively affects the person’s daily life.

Although the rates concerning the migrant women saw a downward trend from 36.7 percent in 2015 to 27.9 percent in 2018 and to 27.4 percent in 2021, the figures remained higher compared to those of Korean women.

The prevalence of depression was higher among those with lower income levels and lower Korean language proficiency, the study showed.

About 40 percent of the migrant women whose households earn less than 2 million won ($1,500) per month – slightly lower than the current minimum wage and the lowest among the surveyed groups – have experienced depression. In contrast, the rate stood at 22.5 percent for the women whose households earn more than 5 million won.

Additionally, 31.8 percent of respondents with limited Korean language skills experienced depression, higher than 23.2 percent of those with advanced Korean language abilities.

By nationality, the percentage was highest among Filipino nationals at 31.5 percent, followed by Thai at 30.2 percent, Cambodian at 30.1 percent, Chinese at 27.9 percent, Vietnamese at 25.9 percent, Japanese at 23.6 percent and ethnic Korean-Chinese at 23.3 percent.

Meanwhile, 77.4 percent of migrant wives assessed that they were in good physical health, far higher than 33.4 percent of Korean women who said so.

However, their evaluation of their physical health deteriorated as the duration of their residence grew longer.

Around 87 percent of those who lived in Korea for less than five years said they were in good physical health. The rate went down by the length of the residency period, in order of those who lived in the country for between five and nine years at 83.9 percent, 10 to 14 years at 77.7 percent and over 15 years at 68.2 percent.