China concerned about falling birth rate amid decline in marriage registrations
Apr 27, 2022
Beijing [China], April 27 : Continuous decline in the number of marriage registrations in China has led to the decline in birth rates, according to a media report, adding that it will eventually lead to the world's second-largest economy's demographic issue.
Last year, the number of marriages in China fell to a 36-year low, exacerbating the world's second-largest economy's demographic issue. As per the data, analysts predict this will contribute to the country's dropping birth rate.
The number of registrations for marriage has declined dramatically, with an estimate of lesser than ten million couples marrying in 2019, lesser than nine million in 2020, and less than eight million in 2021.
In Jiangsu province, the number of marriages has decreased for five years in a row, while in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang, the number of marriages recorded in 2021 was less than 80 per cent of those registered in 2011, The Singapore Post reported.
China's population expanded by less than half a million to 1.4126 billion last year, as the birth rate declined for the sixth year in a row.
The number of young people in the country is declining, which means that the labour force will shrink dramatically in the coming years if birth rates continue to decline. There are concerns that this will negatively influence the country's economy in the future.
Citing Global Times, The Singapore Post reported that the number of couples who married in China in 2021 was only 56.6 per cent of the level in 2013, when the number of marriage registrations peaked.
Furthermore, due to Chinese women's increased educational and economic development, their propensity to marry is even lower than that of males.
Last year, Beijing issued a new Population and Family Planning Law that allows Chinese couples to have three children, ostensibly responding to couples' unwillingness to have additional children due to rising costs.
The decision to allow the third child was implemented after the once-in-a-decade census in 2020 showed that China's population expanded at the slowest rate in history, reaching 1.412 billion people. According to census data, China's demographic issue is predicted to worsen as the over 60 years old increased by 18.7 per cent to 264 million people.
According to the 2010 census, China's overall population has grown 5.8 per cent since 2000, from 1.27 billion to 1.34 billion, compared to a pace of 11.7 per cent, nearly twice, during the 1990 and 2000 censuses (Hvistendahl, 2011), The Singapore Post reported.
