Population: China’s marriage rate hits 40-year low in 2024, raising concerns

New Delhi: Marriages in China have dropped massively this year, the biggest drop in 40 years since 1980, the media reported on Monday. Despite official efforts to encourage young couples to wed and have children to boost the country’s declining population, little has happened.

There is also a significant drop in marriage registrations, from 7.8 million to 6.1 million, reported the Chinese ministry of Civil Affairs, marking a sharp 20.5 percent drop from 2023. This is the lowest number since 1980, reflecting shifting social attitudes and economic concerns that have discouraged young people from marriage and starting families.

Also, amid fewer marriages registered, the number of divorces in China edged up by 1.1 percent to 2.82 million in 2024. Declining marriages are a major signal for falling birth rates, which are directly proportional to population decline. Several factors contributed to this decline, such as a shrinking population of women, changing attitudes towards marriage, and economic pressure, etc.

Despite government efforts to promote marriage and childbirth, many young Chinese are delaying or avoiding marriage because of career ambitions, financial constraints, and concerns over the cost of raising children. Last year saw a slight rise in births after a lull due to the pandemic, and because 2024 was the Chinese Year of the Dragon—with children born that year considered likely to be ambitious and have great fortune. But even with the increase in births, the country’s population fell for a third consecutive year.