Marriages in China experienced a dramatic decline of 20% in 2023, the largest drop on record, despite government efforts to encourage young couples to marry and have children in an attempt to combat the country’s declining population, Reuters reports.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs reported just over 6.1 million couples registered for marriage last year, a significant decrease from the 7.68 million marriages registered in 2022.
Analysts attribute the dwindling interest in marriage and family formation to the high cost of child care and education in China. Furthermore, recent sluggish economic growth has created job insecurity and limited opportunities for university graduates, adding to the financial pressures faced by young adults.
“Unprecedented! Even in 2020, due to Covid 2019, marriages only decreased by 12.2%,” said Yi Fuxian, a demographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He highlighted the stark contrast between current figures and the 13.47 million marriages registered in 2013, noting that the number of marriages in China last year was less than half of the 2013 total.
Fuxian warned of serious consequences if the trend continues.
For Chinese authorities, boosting marriage and birth rates has become a critical priority. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, currently holds the position of the world’s second-most populous nation. However, the country faces a rapidly aging population. Decades of declining birth rates, influenced by the 1980-2015 one-child policy and rapid urbanization, have created a demographic challenge. Over the next decade, approximately 300 million Chinese citizens – a figure comparable to the entire population of the United States – are projected to enter retirement, further straining the workforce and social security system.
