Chinese government records lowest number of marriages since 1980s in 2021

The Chinese government released data this week that showed the country’s lowest number of marriages in 2021 since it began keeping records of such things in 1986.

The new report has fueled already-existing concerns about shifting demographics in the world’s largest country. In April this year, the Chinese government launched an initiative to discourage abortions in order to fight a record low birth rate in 2021. This week’s data was published by state-run outlet the Global Times, which attempted to spin the data in a positive light.

“With the number of people at prime marriage age declining in recent years and late marriage trending in China, having fewer married couples is a normal phenomenon and within expectations, demographers said, noting that China is still a universal marriage society as the average age of first marriage in the country is much earlier than that in many developed countries,” the Global Times said.

In addition to the country’s marriage-age population shrinking, the workforce is getting smaller in China. Experts say the new report on low marriage rates does not bode well for the country’s demographic data and the effect it will have on the national economy. The marriage rate fell 6.1 percent from 2021 to 2020.

“Chinese married couples dropped to a record low in 2021 with only 7.64 million registering their marriage, the first time for the figure to be less than 8 million since 2003 and the lowest since 1986,” according to information from the report which was compiled by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs.