A report published by Suzhou Civil Affairs Bureau shows that locals are delaying getting married.

In 2013, the average age when people first marry was 29.6 years old, about 10.8 months later than in 2012. The average marriage ages were 28.8 years for women and 30.4 years for men.

People in Gusu district got married the lat-est, with the average man and woman getting married at 33.1 and 30.9 years of age respec-tively.

“The average marriage age tends to increase by one year,”said Li Xiaotong, a 　staff with Suzhou Civil Affairs Bureau. “From 2009 to 2012, the average marriage age stayed at 28 years, but it leaped to 29 in 2013.”

Some groups have a higher tendency to de-lay marriage than others, said Li. “Many young people delay marriage to pursue univer-sity degrees. Most people are already 24 years old when they receive a bachelor’s degree. A person with a PhD is at least 30 years old,”said Li. “High housing prices and a hard life might have also led to marriage delays.”

However, 38.2% of women and 26.3% of men who married in 2013 were under 24. Most of those who married early, according to Li, are either from the countryside 　or have joined the workforce without university de-grees.