Number of singles and adults living alone in China 2018

All around the world, more and more people are single and live alone. In 2018, there were about 200 million single adults residing in China and more than a third of them lived alone. The world’s most populous country has been facing an increasing trend of delaying marriage and a rising divorce rate in recent years.

What makes tying the knot so hard?

Getting married could be a long struggle for many Chinese adults. Owing to the decades-long one-child policy and the preference for a male child, China has an imbalanced sex ratio with over 30 million more men than women in 2018. The male ratio was particularly high in provinces like Guangdong and Tianjin. Furthermore, certain socio-economic expectations make searching for a life partner hard among the Chinese. A potential bride or bridegroom is expected to be multifaceted with emphasis laid on physical appearance alongside personal traits. A 2019 survey showed that many Chinese residing in big cities had the expectation that an ideal partner must earn a competitive salary.

Happily ever after?

One might ask “Has this quest for the ideal lover been successful?” Based on the spike in China’s marriage rate in 2013, one might agree. However, many fairytale romances were short-lived with the country’s divorce rate having shot up and the marriage rate having declined to 7.3 percent by 2018.