China's marriage registrations to fall record low in 2024, says expert

China's marriage registrations in 2024 were set to register a record low since 1980, a demographic expert has warned after the marriage registrations in the first half of this year fell by 4.98 lakhs, heightening the country's looming demographic crisis.

The fall in marriage numbers was expected to add to the declining birth rates, which have been steadily falling over the years amid the rapid rise of the ageing population.

The latest statistics from China's Ministry of Civil Affairs show that 34.3 lakh Chinese couples got married during the first half of 2024, a drop of 4.98 lakh couples compared to the same period from last year, state-run Global Times reported on Monday. It said that 1.27 million couples also got divorced.

He Yafu, an independent demographic expert who tracks marriage registration data, predicted that based on the present trend, the annual figure of marriage registrations in 2024 will drop to a record low since 1980.

The decline in the number of marriage ...