Consistent falls in the number of births in some regions in China of more than 10 per cent this year have prompted further concerns of a deepening population crisis, underlining suggestions that support measures to address the issue have been ineffective, with one city seeing number of newborns plummet by 21 per cent.
And while China does not release national population data on a quarterly or half-yearly basis, recent disclosures from some regions offer fresh insights into the country’s population, which grew to 1.412 billion in 2020 despite births falling to 12 million last year.
In Henan, the third most populated province in the country according to the 2020 census, births in the first nine months of the year tumbled by 18.8 per cent from the same period last year. Overall, the number of births in the province has declined for five consecutive years since 2016.
In Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou province, the number of babies born between January to October dropped by 16.8 per cent from a year earlier.
The population crisis appears to be more severe in Anhui province, with data showing that in Chizhou city the number of births in the first 10 months of the year plummeted by 21 per cent compared to a year earlier.
“If the total population goes into decline this year, Beijing will likely double down on the childbirth encouragement policies,” said independent demographer He Yafu.
“Population decline has a long-term and chronic effect on the economy. China’s working age population has been falling since 2012, which is one of the reasons for China’s slowing economic growth in the past decade.
