SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Both unmarried men and women in South Korea picked early 30s as their best marriage age, reflecting the rising trend of delayed marriage, a local survey showed Tuesday.

According to the poll by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 58.7 percent of unmarried men saw early 30s as their best age to get married. Those who selected 35 or older was 28.7 percent.

Unmarried women, who selected men in their early 30s as the appropriate age of their future bridegrooms, reached 57.1 percent. The next selection was 35 or higher, preferred by 36.1 percent.

Meanwhile, 62.8 percent of unmarried women regarded early 30s as their best age to wed, higher than the percentage of men. Those selecting 35 or higher as the best marriage age was 17.4 percent.

The appropriate age of future bride, preferred by 40.8 percent of unmarried men was 30 to 31. The next was 28 to 29 chosen by 21.4 percent. It was followed by the age of 27 or lower which 16.1 percent favored.

The results were based on a survey of 1,140 unmarried men and 1,324 unmarried women.

The choice of early 30s as the best marriage age reflected the rising trend of delayed marriage in the South Korean society, where the delayed marriage boosted a low birthrate amid the aging population.

The average age for first marriage was 32.8 for men and 30.1 for women as of 2016, up 0.2 and 0.1 each from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea.

The number of marriages was 281,600 in 2016, down 7 percent from a year ago.