BEIJING - More Chinese are preferring to get married later in life, with an increasing number tying the knot after reaching 25, according to statistics issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Wednesday.

The number of Chinese getting married between 20 and 24 years old made up the largest proportion, accounting for 35.5 percent of last year's total marriage registrations. The figure has decreased by about 1.1 percentage points annually.

Meanwhile, the 25-29 age bracket saw an increasing number of marriage registrations last year, up by 0.8 percentage points from the previous year to 34.2 percent.

The legal age for marriage in China is 22 for males and 20 for females. Rural people tend to get married earlier than urbanites, but urbanization has caused rural people who have moved to cities for work to change their habits.

More than 13 million couples registered for marriage last year on the Chinese mainland, up 1.6 percent year-on-year.

The number of divorces increased by 8 percent to more than 3.1 million in 2012, including more than 681,000 couples who brought divorce cases to court.