The number of new marriages recorded in China fell to a record low last year, despite sweeping government efforts to encourage young people to tie the knot and have babies to halt demographic decline in the world’s second-largest economy.

Officials believe the decline in marriages directly impacts the country’s falling birth rate. In China, social norms and legal hurdles make it difficult for unmarried couples to have children.

Marriages in China plunged by a fifth to the lowest level on record last year, a setback to efforts by the government to reverse a demographic crisis threatening the world’s second-biggest economy.

Numbers of marriages in China dropped dramatically in 2024. The continuing decline in marriages likely signals further declines in birth rates, intensifying China's demographic headwinds.

China's marriage rate hit a record low in 2024, continuing a troubling trend despite the government's efforts to encourage young people to marry and have children, CNN reported.According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs,