"Why get married?" China becoming more like Korea...The number of first marriages is half of 8 years ago = Korean coverage

The number of first marriages in China halved last year, eight years after it peaked in 2013, hitting a 36-year low. With the population of marriageable age declining and people's views on marriage changing, the coronavirus is believed to have contributed to this trend.

According to the 2022 Statistical Yearbook released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the number of first-time marriages in China was 11.578 million last year, down 708,000 (6.1%) from a year ago.

After peaking at 23,859,600 in 2013, the number of first-time marriages in China began to decline, dropping sharply to 51.5% eight years later. It was the first time in 36 years since 1985 that the number of first-time marriages fell below 12 million.

The number of married couples who have registered their marriage is also decreasing. Last year, 7,643,000 couples registered their marriage, falling below 8 million for the first time in 18 years since 2003. The number of marriages in the first to third quarters (January to September) of this year was 5,445,000, down 7.5% from the same period last year.

It is analyzed that demographic factors are behind Chinese people not getting married, such as a decrease in the population of marriageable age and an increase in marriage age due to late marriage.

Another important factor is the change in young people's views on marriage. Dong Weizheng, director of the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Population and Development Research, said, "Young people's perceptions of marriage and childrearing have changed, and there are many who do not consider marriage and childbirth to be compulsory subjects and think that being single is freer.

COVID19 is also a cause. The Inner Mongolia Bureau of Statistics said, "COVID19 has not only had a major impact on the local economy, but has also affected the daily lives of residents, and the marriage rate is declining."

Declining marriages are expected to lead to a declining and aging population. Last year, China's population was tallied at 1.4126 billion, an increase of 420,000 from the previous year. The birth population was 10.62 million, the lowest since 1961, and the birth rate was 0.752%, the lowest since the founding of New China (1949). Chinese officials expect the population to start declining within three years.