China registered 6.83 million new marriages in 2022, the lowest number since registration began in 1986, according to official data released Monday by the state press.
In 2021, the number had already reached a new low, with 7.63 million marriages celebrated.
According to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of marriage registrations in China has been falling since 2013, when there were 13.46 million marriages.
In 2019, the number fell below ten million for the first time.
Quoted by the official Global Times newspaper, demographer He Yafu said that last year marked the lowest figure, not only since there are records, but since 1980, according to his calculations.
He highlighted the contraction of the young population and the existence of more men than women in the Asian country as factors responsible for the drop in the number of marriages.
According to China’s latest population census, conducted in 2020, there were 17.52 million more men than women in the 20-40 age group.
The average age of first marriage for women has increased from 24 years in 2010 to 27.95 years in 2020.
The expert also pointed out the “high cost” of marriage, which sometimes includes the dowry, a custom still present in some areas of the country, and the “changes in attitude towards marriage among the new generations” as other reasons for the decrease in the number of marriages.
China lost 850,000 people in 2022 in the first population decline in more than half a century.
The country closed the year with 1,411.75 million people, in contrast to the 1,412.6 million registered at the end of 2021.
At the XX Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, held in 2022, the ruling party indicated that the country needs a system that “increases birth rates and reduces the costs of pregnancy, childbirth, schooling, and raising children.”
UN estimates indicate that India overtook China this year as the world’s most populous country.
Source: TSF
