China’s birthrate fell to a record low last year, underscoring a deepening demographic crisis as Beijing struggles to reverse a shrinking and aging population.
Births dropped to 5.6 per 1,000 people in 2025, down from 6.4 in 2023, marking the lowest level on record, according to data compiled by Wind Information going back to the 1950s.
About 7.9 million babies were born last year, sharply fewer than 9.5 million a year before, data from the statistics bureau showed Monday, despite Beijing’s efforts to encourage larger families through widening subsidies and expanded parental leave.
Even though the country began easing its stringent one-child policy nearly a decade ago, the birth rate continued to plummet — except for a brief spike in 2024, when it climbed to 6.77 per 1,000 people. The increase was widely attributed to the Year of the Dragon, which is traditionally considered an auspicious time to have children.
“The pace of the decline is striking, particularly in the absence of major shocks,” said Yue Su, principal economist at Economist Intelligence Unit.
