The country registered just 7.92 million births, a new negative record since 1949, with a birth rate of 5.63 per 1000 people
The number of inhabitants in China, the second most populous country in the world, decreased by around 3.39 million in 2025, due to a negative birth rate and the aging of the population, according to official data released today.
The data published by the National Statistics Office (GNE) represents the fourth consecutive year of contraction, after the population fell by 850,000 people in 2022 — the first drop since 1961, when the number of inhabitants fell as a result of hunger resulting from the failed industrialization policy of the Great Leap Forward –, 2.08 million, in 2023, and 1.39 million, in 2024.
The country recorded 7.92 million births last year, a considerable reduction compared to the 9.54 million in 2024 and a new negative record since the year the People’s Republic of China was founded, in 1949.
Despite policies announced by local and national authorities to try to create a “procreation-friendly society”, the birth rate has also fallen to historic lows, at 5.63 per 1000 people.
Since 2021, the Asian country has allowed its citizens to have a third child, although the decision was not received with great enthusiasm by the population, due both to the economic burden that raising children represents and the priority given to a professional career.
During the 20th Congress in 2022, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) emphasized that the country needs a system that “increases birth rates and reduces the costs of pregnancy, childbirth, schooling and child-rearing.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping classified the demographic crisis as a “vital issue”.
In 2025, China recorded around 11.31 million deaths, with a rate of 8.04 per 1000 inhabitants, higher than the rate of 7.76 in the previous year.
The Asian country ended the year with 1,404.89 million inhabitants, which contrasts with the 1,408.28 million registered at the end of the previous year.
