A young couple poses for photos with their marriage certificates at a marriage registration office in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province on May 10, 2025. Photo: Xinhua

China registered 3.275 million marriages in the first half of this year, down 264,000 from the same period last year, while 1.383 million divorces were recorded, according to data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Wednesday.

According to statistics, China recorded 3.539 million marriages and 1.331 million divorces in the first half of 2025, compared with 3.43 million marriages and 1.274 million divorces in the same period of 2024. couples registered for divorce

China's annual marriage registrations peaked 13.469 million couples in 2013, then entering a steady in 2014. The figure fell below 10 million in 2019, dipped under 8 million in 2021, and fell further to 6.835 million in 2022, -- the first time it had dropped below 7 million -- before rebounding slightly to 7.68 million in 2023.

In recent years, the government has streamlined marriage registration procedures to make it easier for couples to register. For example, in 2025, China introduced the first major revision to its marriage registration regulations in more than two decades, allowing couples to register their marriage at any eligible civil affairs office nationwide and eliminating the household registration booklet as a mandatory document.

China's total population stood at 1.4 billion in 2025, with an average household size of 2.52 people, according to the results of a nationwide population sample survey released by the National Bureau of Statistics on May 22, 2026. The nation had 717.2 million males, about 51.03 percent of the total population, and 688.2 million females, in 2025. 

Global Times