China’s population up less than half a million in 2021, births plunge again as crisis deepens
- Mainland China’s overall population increased to 1.4126 billion last year, but ‘shocking’ national growth rate hits record low of 0.34 per thousand
- Chinese mothers gave birth to 10.62 million babies last year, an 11.5 per cent drop from 2020
Mainland China’s population increased by less than half a million last year, and the number of births also dropped for the fifth consecutive year in 2021, data released on Monday showed.
Chinese mothers gave birth to 10.62 million babies last year, an 11.5 per cent drop from 12 million in 2020, the NBS confirmed. The national birth rate fell to a record low of 7.52 births for every 1,000 people in 2021, from 8.52 in 2020.
The national death rate was 7.18 per thousand last year, putting the national growth rate at 0.34 per thousand.
“The most shocking part of the data release today is that the natural growth of the population has dropped to 0.34 per thousand, the first time below 1.0 since data become available,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. “The demographic challenge is well known, but the speed of population ageing is clearly faster than expected.
