Fewer Babies Born Last Year

China's population on the mainland had grown to 1.4126 billion by the end of last year, increasing by 480,000 compared with the end of 2020, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

The number of newborns in 2021 stood at 10.62 million, with the birth rate at 7.52 per 1,000 people. Given the number of deaths, at 10.14 million, the natural population growth rate was a mere 0.34 per 1,000. According to the NBS, the number of newborns on the mainland had been dropping for five consecutive years since 2017.

China's population living in urban areas on the mainland increased by 12.05 million from the end of 2020 to 914.25 million by the end of 2021, representing 64.72 percent of the total. The gender ratio stood at 104.88 (723.11 men vs 689.49 million women).