South Korea and Japan aren't the only nations stressing over low birth rates. The figures for that in China last year were the lowest since 1949 (the year that the People's Republic of China was established), and the nation saw itself lose the top spot in terms of population to India in 2022. Now, data show that the number of new marriages in China is on track to reach its lowest level since record-keeping began nearly 45 years ago, further fueling worries about birth rates, reports CNN. According to information released earlier this month by the nation's Ministry of Civil Affairs, almost 4.75 million couples in China registered their marriages in the first nine months of 2024.
Reuters notes that's about a 943,000 year-on-year drop, or 16.6%, from the nearly 5.7 million couples who registered during the same period in 2023. Demographics experts now anticipate that the year-end figure won't reach the level of 6.83 million, set in 2022 and the lowest number since the Chinese government started keeping tabs on marriage stats in 1980. There was a small spike in marriages in 2023, but CNN notes that "appears to be an anomaly largely driven by pent-up demand" after COVID restrictions were lifted.
Part of the reason for China's population troubles can be tied back to its long-standing one-child policy, which it officially nixed in 2015, allowing families to have two children each. That number was revised to three in 2021. The nation has since been trying to encourage its young citizens to get hitched and procreate via a variety of measures, including offering cash in some counties for marrying early and setting up subsidies for parents to be used for child care and schooling, per NBC News. However, China's youth have been balking amid steep costs of living exacerbated by high unemployment and not a lot of government support, notes CNN. (More China stories.)
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