Overview

• China recorded just 6.1 million marriages in 2024, a 20% drop from the previous year and the lowest figure since records began in 1986.
• The decline in marriages coincides with a third consecutive year of population decline, despite a slight increase in births attributed to the Year of the Dragon.
• Economic factors like high childcare costs, job insecurity, and rising living expenses are discouraging young couples from marrying and starting families.
• Government measures, including financial incentives, 'love education,' and campaigns to promote marriage and childbearing, have yet to reverse the downward trend.
• Experts warn that the demographic crisis, driven by fewer marriages and an aging population, could undermine China's economic and social stability in the long term.