Shanghai witnessed a remarkable upswing in matrimonial registrations throughout 2025, with official data revealing approximately 125,000 couples formalizing their unions. This represents a substantial 39% increase from the previous year’s figure of around 90,000 marriages, according to Monday’s announcement from the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.
The significant surge is directly linked to China’s groundbreaking nationwide marriage registration policy implemented in May 2025. This revolutionary reform eliminated previous geographic restrictions, enabling couples to complete marriage and divorce procedures at any registration center across the country, regardless of their permanent household registration status.
Shanghai’s implementation of this national initiative proved particularly impactful, with the city processing over 41,300 total registrations under the new framework. Among these, marriage applications dominated with more than 34,000 filings, demonstrating how policy accessibility directly influenced personal decisions.
Concurrent with the registration boom, demographic trends showed remarkable stability. The average age for first-time marriages maintained consistency at 29.7 years overall, with men averaging 30.3 years and women at 29.1 years. These figures have remained virtually unchanged throughout the past five-year period, indicating that while policy changes affected registration timing, they didn’t alter fundamental societal patterns regarding marriage timing.
The comprehensive data suggests that administrative convenience rather than shifting social attitudes primarily drove the registration increase, making matrimonial legal processes more accessible to mobile urban populations.