China's birth rate falls to lowest on record: official data

by AFP Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Jan 19, 2026
China's birth rate fell last year to its lowest level on record, official data showed Monday, as its population shrank for a fourth year running despite authorities' efforts to curb the decline.

There were just 7.92 million births recorded last year, Chinese officials said Monday, a rate of 5.63 births per thousand people.

It marks the lowest birth rate since records by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) began in 1949 -- the year Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Beijing has scrambled to boost marriage and fertility rates, offering childcare subsidies and taxing condoms as it grapples with a rapidly aging population.

China's birth rate had declined consistently over the last decade, despite the end of the restrictive "one-child policy", until a slight uptick in 2024 when 6.77 births were recorded per thousand.

The previous low was in 2023, when China recorded 9.02 million births -- a rate of 6.39 per 1,000 people.

Marriage rates are also at record low levels, with many young couples put off having babies by high child-rearing costs and career concerns.

Meanwhile China recorded 11.31 millions deaths in 2025, a mortality rate of 8.04 per thousand -- leading to a population decline of 2.41 per thousand, NBS data showed.

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