Wedding Rate In China Decreased Drastically Since Early 2024, What's The Reason?

Illustration of the wedding trend in China (Freepic)

JAKARTA - Recently, China has released a series of measures to increase its declining population, recording a decline in marriage registration during the first nine months of 2024, according to official data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

During the first three quarters of this year, 4.747 million couples were registered nationwide, according to the data. That is a year-on-year decline of 943,000, based on Reuters data calculations, quoted from VOI on Monday, November 4, 2024.

The government released the latest data on Friday, November 1, 2024. In 2023, there were 5.690 million registered marriages recorded during the first 9 months, an increase from 2022.

Rising economic uncertainty and rising cost of living across the country have forced many young couples to postpone marriage, a troubling sign for lawmakers who have pushed policies to increase the shrinking population.

Recently, China revised a bill that made it easier for couples to register for marriage, while filing for divorce would be more difficult.

During the first three quarters of 2024, 1,967 million divorces were recorded, slightly down 6,000 from year to year, according to the data.

Earlier this year, China reported its second annual decline in the national birth rate, prompting the government to implement projects and initiatives in major cities to spur young Chinese to create a culture of marriage and give birth to "new eras" children to grow a friendly environment for child birth.

Marriage and children have become a hot topic among young Chinese and raise big discussions and topics that have become a trend on social media.

Many young people in China choose to remain single or delay marriage, due to poor job prospects and concerns about the future. This is because the world's second-largest economic growth has slowed down.

Chinese President Xi Jinping even commented, saying that women have an important role and must build a 'new family trend'.