China: Marriages dropped to historic low as the country grappled with decreasing birth rate

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• Jun 12, 2023 | Dhupali Das

Marriages in China dropped to a record low in 2022 amid a plummeting birth rate and a declining population...

Digital Desk: Marriages in China dropped to a record low in 2022 amid a plummeting birth rate and a declining population, CNN reported. As per data released by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, approximately 6.8 million couples registered for marriage in 2022, a 10.5% decrease from 7.63 million marriage registrations in 2021. This is the lowest figure since 1986 when government data began.

The decline in marriages, which followed pandemic restrictions that kept tens of millions of people locked in their homes or compounds for weeks last year, comes as authorities grapple with a decreasing birth rate and a falling population.

China's birth rate dropped to 6.77 births per 1,000 people last year, the lowest on record, from 7.52 in 2021. Meanwhile, the country's death rate was 7.37 per 1,000 people, the highest since 1974.

The country's population also decline in 2022 for the first time in more than 60 years, owing to growing living costs, particularly in large, expansive cities like Beijing, sluggish economic growth, and changing views towards parenting. The drop in the number of young people is due in part to China's one-child policy, which was in place from the 1980s to 2016.

The strict one-child policy is blamed for many of the demographic issues that have allowed India to become the world's most populous country. Since then, the limit has been increased to three children. 

Officials have also been looking for measures to increase the nation's birth rate and have even asked authorities to increase the implementation of fertility-promoting policies. 

The country said last month that it will undertake pilot projects in more than 20 locations to promote a "new-era" marriage and childbearing culture to foster a childbearing environment.

Concerned over China's first population reduction in six decades and increasing aging, the government's political experts urged in March that single and unmarried women should have access to egg freezing and IVF treatment, among other services, to raise the country's fertility rate.

A few months ago, it was also reported that Chinese sperm banks were reaching out to college students and healthy men to donate sperm after the country experienced negative population growth. 

Some provinces in the country are also providing paid marriage leave for young newlyweds.