China recorded a steep decline in marriage registrations in the first nine months of 2026, the South China Morning Post reported, citing official data from China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs. The decline has renewed concerns about mounting demographic pressures as the birth rate falls.
China registered 4,648,000 marriages from January through September 2026, down 504,000, or 9.8%, from the same period in 2025. Reuters also reported that about two million Chinese couples divorced over those nine months. The number of births fell from nearly 9.5 million in 2024 to nearly eight million in 2025.
To address these demographic pressures, the Chinese government has introduced subsidies for young children, expanded support for kindergartens and offered other incentives aimed at encouraging marriage and childbirth. By Rithy.
