In China, a reduction in marriages threatens the $500 billion wedding industry. (Photo: GREG BAKER / AFP via Getty Images) Two couples pose for wedding photos outside St Joseph's Church, also known as Wangfujing Catholic Church, in Beijing on Easter Friday on April 2, 2021.
COVID wasn't kind to wedding planners in China, where marriages are traditionally elaborate, expensive affairs, but the industry estimated at almost $500 billion is now facing a bigger threat: a plunge in the number of couples willing to tie the knot. "The number of marriages is falling and few are willing to spend a lot on weddings," said Yuan Jialiang, who ran a full-scale wedding planning business for almost a decade in Shanghai before switching to focus on wedding photography before the pandemic. There were 6.8 million marriages across China last year, 800,000 fewer than in 2021 and the lowest since the government began publishing the data in 1986.
The wedding planning industry in China, which is estimated to be worth almost $500 billion, is facing a decline in couples willing to get married. The weakening economy and low consumer confidence have contributed to this trend. Last year, there were 800,000 fewer marriages compared to the previous year, marking the lowest number since data was first published in 1986. This decline in marriages will further exacerbate the decline in China s birth rate.