China ends 9-year decline in new marriages in 2023, but divorces also climb

The country registers 7.68 million newlywed couples, up 845,000 from the previous year in what analysts say is sign of post-pandemic wedding rebound
The data comes amid concerns about the country’s plunging birth rate and worries that its 1.4 billion population could be ageing faster than expected

China's population

Amanda Lee

Published: 6:00pm, 17 Mar 2024

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China ended a nine-year streak of declining marriage registrations last year, with the number of newlywed couples rising to 7.68 million, according to data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Friday.

This was an increase of 845,000 unions compared to the number registered in 2022.

He Yafu, an independent demographer, said a key reason for the rebound in registrations last year was that many young people had to delay marriage because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As the pandemic gradually ends, the wedding industry has rebounded significantly, and there was a hot wave of consumption during the 2023 Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays,” He said in a blog post on Saturday, referring to a spike in spending during the eight-day holiday break in September and October last year.

Wedding-related spending on gold jewellery remains strong, according to a white paper this month by China Wedding Expo about industry trends.

However, overall spending on wedding banquets dropped by 10 to 15 per cent year over year in 2023, it said.

Marriage rates had been on the decline in China since 2013, when the number of new registrations hit an all-time high of 13.47 million.

China’s birth rate has also plunged, raising concerns that the country’s population of 1.4 billion could be ageing faster than anticipated.

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To boost birth rates, authorities have offered incentives for couples to have bigger families since May 2021, when China introduced its three-child policy. The country officially ended its one-child policy in January 2016.

Demographers attributed China’s decline in marriage rates to the high costs associated with having a family, the country’s gender imbalance and changing attitudes among young people towards settling down.

Data from China’s 2020 and 2010 censuses showed that young Chinese have been getting married later in life.

The average age at first marriage in 2010 was 25.75 years old for men and 24 for women. In 2020, that rose to 29.38 years old for men and 27.95 for women.

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The official data also showed that 2.59 million couples registered for uncontested divorces in 2023, up from 2.1 million the year before.

In 2022, there were an additional 779,000 contested divorces – those which must be handled by the courts because one spouse objects. That year there was a total of 2.879 million divorce proceedings, up 1.4 per cent from 2021.

The ministry has yet to release the number of contested divorces adjudicated or mediated by the courts in 2023.