Are Chinese People Stopping Getting Married?

I recalled a conclusion I’d seen before: the more economically developed a country is, the lower its marriage rate tends to be. China is showing this trend as well — since 2014, the marriage rate has dropped by nearly 7% per year on average. This indirectly suggests China is becoming a developed country. Of course, like the US, China also suffers from extreme ideological polarization — after all, the “why not eat meat porridge”典故 has been around for a long time.

Wedding spending among married couples has also been rising sharply during National Day holidays. According to 2021 data, the average wedding cost 250,000 RMB — roughly four times what it was five years prior. In other words, back in 2016, a wedding of around 50,000 RMB was about right; by 2021, that figure had climbed to 250,000 RMB.

The Rise of Childfree Lifestyles, Yet the Wedding Industry Remains Restless