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China recorded its third consecutive year of population decline in 2024, despite the country’s first increase in births in almost a decade in a year traditionally regarded as auspicious.
Figures released on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed the country recorded 9.54mn births in 2024, trailing 10.93mn deaths but a bump on 9mn births last year as Chinese families marked the year of the dragon, believed to be an auspicious zodiac sign.
The increase was the first rise in births since 2016 and left the country with a total population of 1.408bn. India overtook China in 2023 as the world’s most populous country.
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China’s declining population, which fell in 2022 for the first time in six decades, stems from a 1980s policy — ended in 2016 — that limited most couples to having only one child, below the average of 2.1 needed for populations to remain stable.
Analysts say birth rates have also been depressed by economic pressures as the country grapples with slowing growth.
Policymakers are pursuing alternatives such as automation and robotics to maintain high levels of productivity, as well as seeking to encourage couples to have more children through a mix of subsidies, tax breaks and cajoling.