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.

Death rate, crude (per 1,000 people) in China was reported at 7.87 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. China - Death rate, crude - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

In 2023, the number of deaths per 1,000 inhabitants in China was ****. Between 1960 and 2023, the figure dropped by *****, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

In 2024, the total number of deaths in China amounted to around ***** million. The number of deaths increased slightly but steadily over the past two decades, only disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. This trend is mainly related to China’s demographic development and is expected to accelerate in the upcoming years. China’s aging society China had the second largest population on earth in 2024. However, population growth in China has gradually decreased over the last decades and finally turned negative in 2022. Together with steadily improving health standards and growing life expectancy, this has led to a quickly aging society. As relatively large age cohorts are now reaching the years of retirement, the number of elderly in the country is projected to increase quickly. This is especially visible in the number of people aged 80 years and above, which is expected to rise more than four-fold from ** million in 2020 to *** million in 2050. This development will probably be the main factor leading to a growing number of mortalities in China in the upcoming years. China’s mortality rate in comparison Globally, China’s mortality rate is at a low range at slightly less than eight deaths per thousand inhabitants annually. The low mortality rate was a result of political stability and steady improvements in the health system. As the Chinese population grows older, cancer, heart attacks, and cerebrovascular diseases are increasingly common causes of death. In comparison to most Western countries, the number of fatalities due to COVID-19 was low in 2020 and 2021, but there was a slight excess mortality in 2023 and. Most common infectious diseases with high death rates in China were *********************************** in 2021.

CN: Population: Death Rate: Jiangxi data was reported at 0.723 % in 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.736 % for 2023. CN: Population: Death Rate: Jiangxi data is updated yearly, averaging 0.624 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2024, with 35 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.754 % in 1990 and a record low of 0.596 % in 2005. CN: Population: Death Rate: Jiangxi 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: Death Rate: By Region.

Historical dataset showing China death rate by year from 1950 to 2025.

CN: Population: Death Rate: Shaanxi data was reported at 0.764 % in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.738 % for 2021. CN: Population: Death Rate: Shaanxi data is updated yearly, averaging 0.631 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2022, with 32 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.764 % in 2022 and a record low of 0.601 % in 2010. CN: Population: Death Rate: Shaanxi 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: Death Rate: By Region.

China: Death rate, per 1000 people: The latest value from 2023 is 7.87 deaths per 1000 people, an increase from 7.37 deaths per 1000 people in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 7.70 deaths per 1000 people, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for China from 1960 to 2023 is 7.57 deaths per 1000 people. The minimum value, 6.21 deaths per 1000 people, was reached in 1979 while the maximum of 25.43 deaths per 1000 people was recorded in 1960.

Mortality rate, adult, male (per 1,000 male adults) in China was reported at 108 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. China - Mortality rate, adult, male (per 1,000 male adults) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

The statistic shows the adult mortality rate in China from 2013 to 2023, by gender. According to the source, the adult mortality rate is the probability of dying between the ages of ** and ** - that is, the probability of a 15-year-old dying before reaching age **, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year between those ages. In 2023, the mortality rate for women was at ***** per 1,000 female adults, while the mortality rate for men was at ****** per 1,000 male adults in China.

CN: Population: Death Rate: Guangdong data was reported at 0.520 % in 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.536 % for 2023. CN: Population: Death Rate: Guangdong data is updated yearly, averaging 0.497 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2024, with 35 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.617 % in 1992 and a record low of 0.421 % in 2010. CN: Population: Death Rate: Guangdong 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: Death Rate: By Region.

In 2024, the mortality rate in Beijing municipality ranged at approximately **** deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. Beijing's birth rate was slightly higher than its mortality rate that year, resulting in a natural population increase on a low level. As the population is aging, the number of deaths will most likely increase in the future.

Mortality rate, adult, female (per 1,000 female adults) in China was reported at 55.27 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. China - Mortality rate, adult, female (per 1,000 female adults) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

Tuberculosis death rate (per 100,000 people) in China was reported at 1.8 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. China - Tuberculosis death rate (per 100,000 people) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

Forecast: Death Rate of Viral Hepatitis in China 2022 - 2026 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Infant mortality rate of China dropped by 6.25% from 4.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022 to 4.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023. Since the 7.62% slump in 2013, infant mortality rate plummeted by 53.61% in 2023. Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year.

Population: Death Rate: Beijing data was reported at 0.608 % in 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.613 % for 2023. Population: Death Rate: Beijing data is updated yearly, averaging 0.530 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2024, with 35 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.616 % in 1993 and a record low of 0.426 % in 2011. Population: Death Rate: Beijing 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: Death Rate: By Region.

In 2023, the infant mortality rate in deaths per 1,000 live births in China stood at 4.5. Between 1969 and 2023, the figure dropped by 84, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

Forecast: Under 5 Mortality Rate in China 2022 - 2026 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Forecast: Child Mortality Rate in China 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!