China birth rate

China’s birth rate – the number of births per 1,000 people – has fallen yearly since 2016. In 2023, it reached an all-time low of 6.39, equating to 9.02 million births – the lowest annual figure since records began in 1949. Despite a spate of government policies to boost births, young adults remain reluctant owing to high child-rearing costs, the state of the job market, and evolving social attitudes that have similarly decreased the marriage rate.