China marriages fall to ‘norm’ in first quarter after active 2023, threatening productivity as population ages
- Fewer weddings mean fewer kids and a smaller labour force down the line
With fewer people in China saying “I do”, the country’s marriage rate fell by 8.2 per cent in the first three months of 2024, compared with the same period last year, further illustrating what is shaping up to be a major challenge to the workforce in the world’s second-largest economy.
China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs logged 1.969 million new marriages from January through March compared with 2.147 million in the first quarter of 2023. The figures track with declining birth rates, a growing number of retirees and an overall falling Chinese population.
Fewer marriages over a longer period would serve to further reduce childbirths and shrink the workforce in a country that depends heavily on manufacturing, said Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank.
But marriage figures from the first quarter of this year could indicate a return to the “norm” following the post-pandemic uptick, Ng said.