Overview

• China's birth rate has significantly dropped, with only 7.88 million children born in 2023 compared to 9.56 million in 2022.
• Despite government efforts to encourage larger families, many Chinese women are choosing personal ambitions over state and family pressures due to the high costs of child-rearing and a weak economy.
• China's population, currently around 1.4 billion, could halve by the end of the century according to some forecasts.
• China's leader Xi Jinping has urged action to prevent a further decline in China's population, but many women are resisting these efforts.
• The declining birth rate and an aging population pose a demographic crisis for China, with the nation expected to have 400 million people above the age of 60 by 2040.