China's population falls again as birth rate hits record low
China's population fell for the fourth consecutive year in 2025, while the birth rate fell to another record low, according to official data.
The population shrank by 3.39 million to 1.405 billion, a faster decline than in 2024. Births fell to 7.92 million in 2025, down 17% from 9.54 million in 2024, while deaths rose to 11.31 million from 10.93 million in 2024, figures from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. The country's birth rate fell to 5.63 per 1,000 people.
People over 60 make up about 23% of the total population. By 2035, the number of people over 60 is projected to reach 400 million, meaning hundreds of millions of people could drop out of the workforce.
China has already raised the retirement age, with men now expected to work until the age of 63 instead of 60 and women until the age of 58 instead of 55.
Authorities are trying to promote "positive views on marriage and childbearing" as they seek to counter the long-term effects of the one-child policy, which was in place from 1980 to 2015 and helped reduce poverty but reshaped Chinese families and society.
Population movement has exacerbated the demographic challenge, with large numbers of people moving from rural areas to cities, where raising children is more expensive. China's urbanization rate was 68% in 2025, up from about 43% in 2005.
Policymakers have made population planning a key part of the country's economic strategy. This year, Beijing faces a potential cost of about 180 billion yuan ($25.8 billion) to increase births.
The measures include a national child subsidy, introduced last year, and a commitment that from 2026 women will have "no out-of-pocket expenses" during pregnancy, with all medical costs fully reimbursed by the national health insurance fund.
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