In recent years, the Chinese government has adopted various measures to encourage young people to marry and have children in order to slow down the declining population. However, the latest official data shows that in the first half of this year, the number of registered marriages decreased by 264,000 couples compared to the same period last year.
According to data released on August 12 by the website of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Communist Party of China, there were 3.275 million registered marriages and 1.383 million divorces in the first half of this year.
Previous data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs for the first half of 2025 showed 3.539 million registered marriages and 1.331 million divorce registrations. Compared to those figures, in the first half of 2026, the number of registered marriages decreased by 264,000 couples, a decrease of 7.46%; the number of divorce registrations increased by 52,000 couples, an increase of 3.91%, leading to a rise in the divorce-to-marriage ratio to 42.2%.
Following this news, it sparked widespread attention on social media platforms.
Netizens commented, “Why aren’t young people getting married? Do they lack the desire? Why aren’t young people having children? Is there no motivation? This will be the biggest issue facing China in the future.”
“The number of marriages in the first half of this year has dropped again. Previously, excuses could be made like blaming it on the ‘widow years,’ but now, regardless of the circumstances, the enthusiasm for marriage is visibly decreasing. Housing, education, and the expectation of working 996 hours a week are like three looming mountains, making the cost-benefit ratio of marriage increasingly unattractive. When the freedom and controllability of being single become luxuries, marriage transforms from a mandatory question to an optional one – not that people don’t want to answer it, but they can’t afford to, and it’s too risky. The decline is not just in numbers, it’s also a silent choice under the heavy burden of a generation’s life.”
“Reaching a historic low, what’s even more heart-wrenching is that this year’s marriage data has been heavily modified because at the beginning of the year, regions were pushing elderly people who had lived their whole lives together but hadn’t registered for their marriage certificates to do so. This maneuver was merely for the sake of generating favorable data, it neither boosts wedding spending nor encourages childbirth. However, once the elderly couples are accounted for, they can’t be used again, so next year should hit a new record low.”
The number of marriages in China peaked in 2013 and has been steadily declining since then, dropping from 13.469 million couples in 2013 to 6.835 million couples in 2022. After the pandemic restrictions were lifted, it rose to 7.682 million couples in 2023 but fell again to 6.106 million couples in 2024.
Since the peak in 2013, the number of marriages has continuously decreased from 2014 onwards. In 2019, the number of marriages fell below 10 million couples, in 2020 below 9 million couples, in 2021 below 8 million couples, and by 2022 it dropped below 7 million couples. Compared to the peak in 2013, over the past 9 years, the number of marriages has decreased by 49.3%, almost half.
After the pandemic restrictions were lifted, the number of marriages rose to 7.682 million couples in 2023, but fell to a new low in 45 years at 6.106 million couples in 2024.
In 2025, due to the cancellation of territorial restrictions on marriage registration and various regions implementing policies to encourage marriage, including economic incentives, subsidies, and extended holidays, the number of registered marriages slightly increased to 6.763 million couples.
However, the trend from 2025 did not continue, and the number of marriages continued to decline.