China’s sharp decline in marriages raises economic and demographic concerns
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China is experiencing a historic drop in marriage rates, with the latest figures showing a 20% decline in the number of registered marriages last year.
According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, only 6.1 million couples tied the knot in 2023, a sharp fall from 7.68 million in the previous year. This downward trend has sparked concerns among policymakers, who are actively pushing for initiatives to encourage marriage and childbearing as the country faces declining population and economic challenges.
Demographer Yi Fuxian from the University of Wisconsin-Madison described the situation as "unprecedented."
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the decline in marriages was 12.2%, significantly less than the drop recorded last year. Fuxian also noted that marriage numbers have plummeted by more than half since 2013, when 13.47 million couples got married. If this trend continues, he warned that China’s economic and political ambitions could be severely impacted by its worsening demographic crisis.
China’s population is aging at an alarming rate, with 300 million people - equivalent to the entire U.S. population - expected to enter retirement within the next decade. The country has long struggled with a declining birth rate, a problem worsened by the one-child policy (1980-2015) and rapid urbanisation.
To counteract these trends, the government has launched various initiatives aimed at encouraging marriage and childbirth.
Last year, authorities urged universities and colleges to incorporate "love education" into their curriculum to promote positive attitudes toward marriage, family, and fertility. In November, the State Council called on local governments to invest resources into addressing the population crisis, urging young people to marry and have children "at the right age."
Despite government efforts, the number of births in China remains low. While 2024 saw a slight increase in births - partly due to the Chinese zodiac’s Year of the Dragon, which is considered an auspicious year for childbirth - the overall population declined for the third consecutive year.
Adding to the challenge, divorce rates have also risen, with over 2.6 million couples filing for divorce in 2023, a 1.1% increase from the previous year.