In 2024, the average number of children born per 1,000 people in China ranged at ****. The birth rate has dropped considerably since 2016, and the number of births fell below the number of deaths in 2022 for the first time in decades, leading to a negative population growth rate. Recent development of the birth rate Similar to most East-Asian countries and territories, demographics in China today are characterized by a very low fertility rate. As low fertility in the long-term limits economic growth and leads to heavy strains on the pension and health systems, the Chinese government decided to support childbirth by gradually relaxing strict birth control measures, that had been in place for three decades. However, the effect of this policy change was considerably smaller than expected. The birth rate increased from **** births per 1,000 inhabitants in 2010 to ***** births in 2012 and remained on a higher level for a couple of years, but then dropped again to a new low in 2018. This illustrates that other factors constrain the number of births today. These factors are most probably similar to those experienced in other developed countries as well: women preferring career opportunities over maternity, high costs for bringing up children, and changed social norms, to name only the most important ones. Future demographic prospects Between 2020 and 2023, the birth rate in China dropped to formerly unknown lows, most probably influenced by the coronavirus pandemic. As all COVID-19 restrictions were lifted by the end of 2022, births figures showed a catch-up effect in 2024. However, the scope of the rebound might be limited. A population breakdown by five-year age groups indicates that the drop in the number of births is also related to a shrinking number of people with child-bearing age. The age groups between 15 and 29 years today are considerably smaller than those between 30 and 44, leaving less space for the birth rate to increase. This effect is exacerbated by a considerable gender gap within younger age groups in China, with the number of females being much lower than that of males.

In China, the crude birth rate in 1930 was just under 39 live births per thousand people, meaning that 3.9 percent of the population had been born in that year. The crude birth rate dropped gradually over the next fifteen years, however it then rose to it's highest recorded figure by 1955. Between 1945 and 1950, the Second World War ended and the Chinese Civil War was finally coming to an end, and during this time the crude birth rate rose to almost 47 births per thousand in individual years. The crude birth rate dropped again in the late 1950s, as Chairman Mao's 'Great Leap Forward' failed to industrialize the nation, and resulted in a famine which killed an estimated 45 million people. The 1960s saw some recovery, where the figures rose from 36.4 to 39.5 births per thousand in this decade, however two-child and one-child policies were introduced in the 1970s and 80s, in an attempt to slow China's rapidly growing population. These measures led to the decline of the birth rate, dropping below fifteen births per thousand at the turn of the millennium. From 2000 until now the decline of China's crude birth rate has slowed, falling by just 2.8 births per thousand over the past twenty years, and it is expected to be just below twelve in 2020.

China Fertility Rate of Childbearing Women: 1st Birth data was reported at 1.417 % in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.705 % for 2020. China Fertility Rate of Childbearing Women: 1st Birth data is updated yearly, averaging 2.232 % from Dec 1999 (Median) to 2021, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.170 % in 1999 and a record low of 1.417 % in 2021. China Fertility Rate of Childbearing Women: 1st Birth data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: No of Birth, Death, Natural Growth, Birth Rate, Death Rate and Natural Growth Rate, Life Expectancy, Dependency Ratio.

The crude birth rate in China decreased by 0.4 live births per 1,000 inhabitants (-5.91 percent) compared to the previous year. Therefore, the rate in China saw its lowest number in that year with 6.39 live births per 1,000 inhabitants. The crude birth rate is the annual number of live births divided by the total population, expressed per 1,000 people.Find more statistics on other topics about China with key insights such as number of tuberculosis infections , total fertility rate, and death rate.

Population: Birth Rate: Liaoning data was reported at 0.406 % in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.408 % for 2022. Population: Birth Rate: Liaoning data is updated yearly, averaging 0.664 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2023, with 34 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.630 % in 1990 and a record low of 0.406 % in 2023. Population: Birth Rate: Liaoning data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Birth Rate: By Region.

In 2023, the birth rate across different regions in China varied from around 13.7 births per 1,000 inhabitants (per mille) in Tibet to 2.9 per mille in Heilongjiang province. The average national birth rate ranged at 6.4 per mille that year. High disparity of birth rates across China Regional birth rates in China reach their highest values in western and southwestern provinces and autonomous regions. In this part of the country, the economy is less developed than in the coastal provinces and traditional values are more prevalent. At the same time, many people from minority communities live in these areas, who were less affected by strict birth control measures in the past and traditionally have more children. In contrast, the lowest birth rates in recent years were registered in the northwestern provinces Jilin, Liaoning, and Heilongjiang, which is the rust belt of China. This region offers few economic opportunities, and many young people leave for a better life in the eastern provinces. They often leave old people behind, which is one reason why these provinces also have some of the highest mortality rates in China. Future developments As most Chinese regions with a higher fertility rate have only few inhabitants, they cannot compensate for the increasing number of provinces with a declining populace. In the future, only economically successful cites will be able to escape this trend, while many provinces and rural areas will slowly lose a significant share of their population.

CN: Population: Birth Rate: Jiangsu data was reported at 0.500 % in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.481 % for 2023. CN: Population: Birth Rate: Jiangsu data is updated yearly, averaging 0.934 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2024, with 35 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.054 % in 1990 and a record low of 0.481 % in 2023. CN: Population: Birth Rate: Jiangsu data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Birth Rate: By Region.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 in early 2020 and the recurring epidemic in later years have disturbed China’s economy. Moreover, China’s demographic dividend has been disappearing due to its fastest aging population and declining birth rate. The birth rates in eastern provinces of China are much lower than those of the western provinces. Considering the impacts of the COVID-19 and aging population, this paper focused on the relationship between birth rate and the disposable income and tried to find effective measures to raise China’s birth rate. We discovered through regression analysis that the link between per capita disposable income and birth rate is initially "reverse J" and later "inverted J", indicating that per capita disposable income will influence the birth rate. Women’s employment rate and educational level are negatively correlated with the birth rate. To raise the fertility rate in China, it is necessary to increase the marriage rate and the willingness to have children by raising the per capita disposable income and introducing effective tax relief policies.

CN: Population: Birth Rate: Guizhou data was reported at 1.074 % in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.065 % for 2023. CN: Population: Birth Rate: Guizhou data is updated yearly, averaging 1.397 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2024, with 35 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.309 % in 1990 and a record low of 1.065 % in 2023. CN: Population: Birth Rate: Guizhou data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Birth Rate: By Region.

In 2024, there were around 719 million male inhabitants and 689 million female inhabitants living in China, amounting to around 1.41 billion people in total. China's total population decreased for the first time in decades in 2022, and population decline is expected to accelerate in the upcoming years. Birth control in China From the beginning of the 1970s on, having many children was no longer encouraged in mainland China. The one-child policy was then introduced in 1979 to control the total size of the Chinese population. According to the one-child policy, a married couple was only allowed to have one child. With the time, modifications were added to the policy, for example parents living in rural areas were allowed to have a second child if the first was a daughter, and most ethnic minorities were excepted from the policy. Population ageing The birth control led to a decreasing birth rate in China and a more skewed gender ratio of new births due to boy preference. Since the negative economic and social effects of an aging population were more and more felt in China, the one-child policy was considered an obstacle for the country’s further economic development. Since 2014, the one-child policy has been gradually relaxed and fully eliminated at the end of 2015. However, many young Chinese people are not willing to have more children due to high costs of raising a child, especially in urban areas.

In 2024, around **** million babies were born in China. The number of births has increased slightly from **** million in the previous year, but is much lower than the ***** million births recorded in 2016. Demographic development in China In 2022, the Chinese population decreased for the first time in decades, and population decline is expected to accelerate in the upcoming years. To curb the negative effects of an aging population, the Chinese government decided in 2013 to gradually relax the so called one-child-policy, which had been in effect since 1979. From 2016 onwards, parents in China were allowed to have two children in general. However, as the recent figures of births per year reveal, this policy change had only short-term effects on the general birth rate: the number of births slightly increased from 2014 onwards, but then started to fell again in 2018. In 2024, China was the second most populous country in the world, overtaken by India that year. China’s aging population The Chinese society is aging rapidly and facing a serious demographic shift towards older age groups. The median age of China’s population has increased massively from about ** years in 1970 to **** years in 2020 and is projected to rise continuously until 2080. In 2020, approximately **** percent of the Chinese were 60 years and older, a figure that is forecast to rise as high as ** percent by 2060. This shift in demographic development will increase social and elderly support expenditure of the society as a whole. One measure for this social imbalance is the old-age dependency ratio, measuring the relationship between economic dependent older age groups and the working-age population. The old-age dependency ratio in China is expected to soar to ** percent in 2060, implying that by then three working-age persons will have to support two elderly persons.

China Population: Birth Rate data was reported at 0.677 % in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.752 % for 2021. China Population: Birth Rate data is updated yearly, averaging 1.979 % from Dec 1949 (Median) to 2022, with 74 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.337 % in 1963 and a record low of 0.677 % in 2022. China Population: Birth Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Birth Rate: By Region.

Population: Birth Rate: Jilin data was reported at 0.376 % in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.432 % for 2022. Population: Birth Rate: Jilin data is updated yearly, averaging 0.747 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2023, with 34 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.949 % in 1990 and a record low of 0.376 % in 2023. Population: Birth Rate: Jilin data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Birth Rate: By Region.

Population: Household Registration: Birth Rate: Hubei: Wuhan data was reported at 8.410 ‰ in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 8.970 ‰ for 2021. Population: Household Registration: Birth Rate: Hubei: Wuhan data is updated yearly, averaging 10.720 ‰ from Dec 2007 (Median) to 2022, with 15 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 15.570 ‰ in 2017 and a record low of 7.700 ‰ in 2007. Population: Household Registration: Birth Rate: Hubei: Wuhan data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GE: Population: Prefecture Level City: Household Registration: Natural Growth Rate.

In 2024, the mortality rate in China ranged at approximately 7.76 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. The mortality rate in China displayed an uneven development over the last two decades. This is mainly related to the very uneven sizes of Chinese age groups, improvements in health care, and the occurrence of epidemics. However, an overall growing trend is undisputable and related to China's aging population. As the share of the population aged 60 and above will be growing significantly over the upcoming two decades, the mortality rate will further increase in the years ahead. Population in China China was the second most populous country in the world in 2024. However, due to several mechanisms put into place by the Chinese government as well as changing circumstances in the working and social environment of the Chinese people, population growth has subsided over the past decades and finally turned negative in 2022. The major factor for this development was a set of policies introduced by the Chinese government in 1979, including the so-called one-child policy, which was intended to improve people’s living standards by limiting the population growth. However, with the decreasing birth rate and slower population growth, China nowadays is facing the problems of a rapidly aging population. Birth control in China According to the one-child policy, a married couple was only allowed to have one child. Only under certain circumstances were parents allowed to have a second child. As the performance of family control had long been related to the assessment of local government’s achievements, violations of the rule were severely punished. The birth control in China led to a decreasing birth rate and a more skewed gender ratio of new births due to a widely preference for male children in the Chinese society. Nowadays, since China’s population is aging rapidly, the one-child policy has been re-considered as an obstacle for the country’s further economic development. Since 2014, the one-child policy has been gradually relaxed and fully eliminated at the end of 2015. In May 2021, a new three-child policy has been introduced. However, many young Chinese people today are not willing to have more children due to high costs of raising a child, especially in urban areas.

For most of the past two centuries, falling birth rates have been associated with societal progress. During the demographic transition, where pre-industrial societies modernize in terms of fertility and mortality, falling death rates, especially among infants and children, are the first major change. In response, as more children survive into adulthood, women have fewer children as the need to compensate for child mortality declines. This transition has happened at different times across the world and is an ongoing process, with early industrial countries being the first to transition, and Sub-Saharan African countries being the most recent to do so. Additionally, some Asian countries (particularly China through government policy) have gone through their demographic transitions at a much faster pace than those deemed more developed. Today, in countries such as Japan, Italy, and Germany, birth rates have fallen well below death rates; this is no longer considered a positive demographic trend, as it leads to natural population decline, and may create an over-aged population that could place a burden on healthcare systems.

This statistic shows the birth rate in China from 2000 to 2020, with forecasts until 2050. According to the forecasts, the birth rate in China might decrease from **** per 1,000 people in 2020 to *** per 1,000 people in 2050.

In 2020, the child and old-age dependency ratios in China ranged at around 25.9 and 18.2 percent respectively, summing up to a total dependency ratio of 44.1 percent. While the child dependency ratio is expected to drop slightly and then remain stable, the old-age dependency ratio will rise steadily in coming decades. Age demographics in China With a populace of 1.4 billion people by the end of 2023, China stands the country with the second largest population in the world. Since its foundation in 1949, the PRC has experienced high population growth. With the beginning of the reform period in the end of the 1970s, population growth decreased steadily. Finally, China's population size peaked in 2021 and entered a declining path. Falling birth rates in combination with higher life expectancy led to a continuously increasing median age of the population in China over the past five decades. The median age of the Chinese population is expected to rise further and to reach 50 years by the middle of the century. Development of the dependency ratio China has enjoyed a continuously growing work force since the late 1970s. Simultaneously, the total dependency ratio in China decreased from 80 percent in 1970 to about 37 percent in 2010. However, an important turning point was reached in 2011, as the total dependency ratio was set to increase again after 30 years of population bonus. As can be seen from the above graph, until 2100, child-dependency is estimated to remain steady around 15 to 20 percent. Old-age dependency on the other hand is expected to grow from about 12 percent in 2010 to 69 percent in 2060, implying a growing number of senior citizens that need support from the working population. The shift of age demographics in the near future in China is bound to have ineligible economical and social impacts. To learn more about age demographics in China, take a look at our dossier aging population in China.

Population: Birth Rate: Chongqing data was reported at 0.558 % in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.598 % for 2022. Population: Birth Rate: Chongqing data is updated yearly, averaging 1.010 % from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2023, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.360 % in 1997 and a record low of 0.558 % in 2023. Population: Birth Rate: Chongqing data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Birth Rate: By Region.

BackgroundAccording to the Seventh National Census, China’s fertility rate is less than 1.5, marking a significant national issue with potential risks. To counter this low birth rate, the Chinese government has relaxed family planning policies and introduced supportive measures.PurposeChanges in birth policy have attracted considerable attention from the people of China. This article aims to study the public’s response to the three-child support policy using Weibo as a window. The goal is to provide a more balanced evaluation of current perspectives, enabling policymakers to formulate better fertility information, particularly when anticipating a poor public response to controversial policies.MethodologyThis research uses a crawler to gather data from Sina Weibo. Through opinion mining of Weibo posts on the three-child policy, Weibo users’ online opinions on the three-child policy are analyzed from two perspectives: their attention content and sentiment tendency. Using an interrupted time series, it examines changes in online views on the policy, matching policy documents to the time nodes of Weibo posts.FindingsThe public has shown great interest in and provided short-term positive feedback on policies related to improving maternity insurance, birth rewards, and housing subsidies. In contrast, there has been a continuous negative response to policies such as extending maternity leave, which has particularly sparked concerns among women regarding future employment and marital rights protection. On social media, the public’s attention to the three-child birth policy has focused mainly on the protection of women’s rights, especially legal rights after childbirth, and issues related to physical and mental health. Child-rearing support and economic pressure are also hot topics, involving the daily expenses of multichild families, childcare services, and housing pressure. However, this study also revealed that infertile or single women express a strong desire to have children, but due to limitations in the personal medical insurance system, this desire has not been fully satisfied.ContributionsOur study demonstrates the feasibility of a rapid and flexible method for evaluating the public response to various three-child supportive policies in China using near real-time social media data. This information can help policy makers anticipate public responses to future pandemic three-child policies and ensure that adequate resources are dedicated to addressing increases in negative sentiment and levels of disagreement in the face of scientifically informed but controversial, restrictions.