The number of births per 1,000 people fell to 5.6, the lowest since at least the founding of the People’s Republic, according to data released by the National Statistics Bureau on Monday. Around 7.9 million babies were born, much fewer than the year before.
The figure is a setback for President Xi Jinping’s campaign to promote a fertility-friendly society including by offering cash rewards for parents. The population fell by 3.4 million last year, the largest drop in decades, to 1.405 billion.
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A shrinking workforce and aging population are major threats to the world’s second-largest economy. As the elderly cohort grows, the worker-to-retiree ratio shrinks, piling more pressure on the underfunded pension system.
The Chinese government has implemented a series of pro-natalist policies in recent years, from extending paternity and maternity leave to making it easier to register a marriage.
Among the incentives, couples are offered about $500 a year for each child under 3 born on or after Jan. 1, 2025. The government also started imposing a 13% value-added tax on contraceptive drugs and devices, including morning-after pills and condoms, for the first time starting this year.
