China’s birth rate hits record low

Figures for 2018 add to worries about slowing economy

BEIJING:BIRTHS in China dropped to the lowest level in nearly 60 years in 2018, official data showed on Monday, indicating the scrapping of the one-child policy three years ago has had little impact on the ageing demography.

A total of 15.23 million babies were born on the mainland in 2018, a drop of nearly 2 mn from 2017, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. “The population growth rate dropped from 532 to 381 per 100,000 population from 2017 to 2018, NBS figures show. The rate is the lowest since 1961,” state media reported.

The falling birthrate will add to worries about a slowing economy, a shrinking pool of workforce and the costs of maintaining an ageing population. The total population on the Chinese mainland reached 1.395 billion, up by 5.3 mn year-on-year.

“The number of workforce, or those between 16 and 59 years old, stood at around 897 mn, accounting for 64.3% of the total population. The number of people at 60 years old or above exceeded 249 mn, accounting for nearly 18% of the total population,” the NBS data said.

Experts had predicted that the number of births would fall as the majority of couples decide against going for a second child because of rising living costs, especially that of education.

“With 630,000 fewer babies born in 2017 than the year before, China, the world’s most populous country, is facing a gloomy demographic situation, with many experts doubting the efficacy of the country’s two-child policy,” People’s Daily had reported last January.

The falling rate also raises the question of whether China’s onechild policy, strictly implemented since the late 1970s, was withdrawn too late.

“Although the national data for the birth of newborns have not been publicised yet, data revealed by local health departments showed that the number of newborns in 2018 decreased by at least 15% from the previous year,” He Yafu, a demographer, told the tabloid Global Times this month.