(Yicai Global) June 12 -- The number of marriages registered in China last year declined for the ninth consecutive year to the lowest since 1986, when the figure started to be recorded.

More than 6.8 million couples registered marriages in 2022, down 10.5 percent from the previous year and more than 49 percent from the peak of 13.5 million in 2013, data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed on June 9.

Among the main reasons for the decline was the drop in the number of people of marriageable age, couples getting wed and having children later in life, lifestyle changes, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Generation Z, or people born after the year 2000, has entered the marriage and childbearing stage, Yang Jinrui, deputy director of the National Health Commission’s population monitoring and family development department, said at the start of the year. Gen Zers stay in education longer and face bigger employment pressures, so the time to get married and start a family has gotten later for them, Yang noted.

The average age at first marriage in China was 28.7 in 2020, an increase of more than three years from 2010, according to the China Population Census Yearbook 2020.

More and more young people are deciding to stay single and childless, Dong Yuzheng, a population expert and special researcher with Guangdong’s provincial government, told Yicai Global.

Young people's view of marriage has changed, as many no longer see it and childbirth as a compulsory step in life, Dong added, noting that concerns about the durability of marriages and the rise in marriage costs also discouraged young people.

A significant decline in the numbers getting hitched will also greatly impact the country's birth rate Some 9.56 million babies were born in China last year, down 10 percent from 2021 and falling below 10 million for the first time since 1950, according to official data.

In 2022, China’s birth rate fell to the lowest since 1949, when the country began recording the figure. It was 6.77 for every 1,000 people, a decrease of 0.75 from the previous year.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione