China’s Marriage Registration Boom: 10.76% Surge in 2025 Driven by Policy Reforms

China just hit a major milestone in marriage registrations.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs (Minzheng Bu 民政部) dropped some interesting numbers on February 11: 6.763 million couples registered for marriage in 2025.

That’s 657,000 more couples than 2024.

Translation? A 10.76% year-on-year growth spike.

For context, this isn’t just a small bump—it’s a meaningful shift that tells us something bigger is happening in the Chinese marriage landscape.

What’s Driving the Marriage Registration Surge in China?

• Removal of regional/provincial registration restrictions
• Elimination of the Hukoubu (household booklet) requirement
• Ability to register at any civil affairs office nationwide

The answer is pretty straightforward: policy changes.

On May 10, 2025, China’s government implemented a revised “Regulations on Marriage Registration” (Hunyin Dengji Tiaoli 婚姻登记条例).

Here’s what actually changed:

• Removed regional restrictions on marriage registration across provinces.
• Eliminated the household registration booklet requirement (Hukoubu 户口本)—one of the biggest friction points for couples.
• Couples can now register anywhere in the country, regardless of where they’re originally from or currently living.

If you’re thinking, “Wait, that was only in effect for part of the year?”—you’re right.

The policy kicked in mid-year, yet we still saw massive registration increases across the board.

Imagine what the full-year impact will look like in 2026.

The Divorce Data: What’s Happening on the Other End?

It’s not just marriages going up—divorces matter too for understanding the complete picture.

In 2025, 2.743 million couples filed for divorce registration (this excludes court-adjudicated divorces, which haven’t been published yet).

For comparison, 2024’s total divorce count was 3.513 million, broken down as:

• 2.622 million registrations through civil affairs departments.
• 891,000 cases handled through court judgments or mediation.

So the registration-only divorces actually dipped in 2025, but that’s likely because the full-year court data hasn’t been released yet.

Cross-Provincial Marriage Registrations Are the Real Story Here

Here’s the thing that’s genuinely interesting: the policy changes didn’t just bump up existing registrations.

They unlocked an entirely new category of marriages.

“Cross-provincial” marriage registrations have surged since the new rules took effect.

This means couples who couldn’t previously register together—because one person was from another province, or they were living somewhere other than their registered hometown—can now do it seamlessly.

This is especially impactful in major cities with high concentrations of migrant populations.

If you think about it: China has over 300 million internal migrants.

Many of them couldn’t easily formalize their relationships under the old system.

The new policy basically removed a huge logistical barrier for millions of people.

Regional Breakdown: Which Cities Are Seeing the Biggest Jumps?

Not all regions experienced equal growth.

Some cities saw absolutely explosive increases:

Guangdong: Nearly 20% Growth

Guangdong (Guangdong 广东) recorded 614,000 marriage registrations in 2025.

That’s an increase of 102,000 couples over 2024.

Growth rate: 19.92%.

Guangdong is China’s most populous province and a major economic hub—so this makes sense.

Shanghai: Explosive 38.7% Spike

Shanghai (Shanghai 上海) is where things get really interesting.

The city registered 125,102 marriages in 2025.

That’s a 38.7% increase compared to 2024.

That’s not just growth—that’s a structural shift in how people are formalizing relationships in China’s most developed city.

Jiangsu Province: Multiple Double-Digit Gains

Jiangsu (Jiangsu 江苏) Province had several cities posting seriously strong numbers:

Nanjing (Nanjing 南京)

• 63,400 marriage registrations processed in 2025.
• 18.27% year-on-year growth.

Suzhou (Suzhou 苏州)

• 65,000 marriage registrations processed.
• 33.51% year-on-year increase.

Wuxi (Wuxi 无锡)

• 32,122 marriage registrations handled.
• That’s an increase of 7,849 couples compared to 2024.
• 32.34% growth.

Changzhou (Changzhou 常州)

• 23,082 marriages registered in 2025.
• An increase of 5,119 couples.
• Approximately 28.5% growth over 2024.
• The city also processed 11,301 divorce registrations.

Notice the pattern? Suzhou and Wuxi are both in the Jiangsu industrial corridor—regions attracting young professionals and migrant workers.

These are exactly the people who would have been blocked from easy marriage registration under the old system.

What This Means for China’s Demographic Future

The 10.76% surge in marriage registrations isn’t just a bureaucratic milestone.

It signals something deeper: removal of artificial barriers is creating pent-up demand.

For years, China’s internal registration system (hukou 户口) created friction for people who wanted to formalize relationships across provincial lines.

Now that friction is gone.

The policy change essentially unlocked millions of people who were already in relationships but couldn’t (or wouldn’t) navigate the old registration process.

From a startup and investment perspective, this also opens doors:

• Fintech companies can now build better products around marriage planning and household finances.
• Wedding services companies have a larger addressable market.
• Real estate and relocation services become more relevant for couples who are now more likely to formalize.

The broader takeaway? Policy-driven structural changes in China create massive market opportunities.

This marriage registration surge is just one example of how removing bureaucratic friction can reshape entire industries and consumer behavior.

References

• 2025 Marriage Registration Data Released: 10.76% Increase! Cross-provincial Handling Shows Results – East Money (Dongfang Caifu 东方财富)
• Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Official Website – Ministry of Civil Affairs (Minzheng Bu 民政部)
• Draft regulation aims to simplify marriage registration – China Daily
• National Bureau of Statistics Population and Social Data – National Bureau of Statistics (Guojia Tongjiju 国家统计局)