Overview
- The National Bureau of Statistics reported 7.92 million births in 2025, equal to 5.63 per 1,000 people, the lowest since records began in 1949.
- Deaths totaled 11.31 million, a mortality rate of 8.04 per 1,000, producing a net population fall of 3.39 million to about 1.405 billion and marking a fourth consecutive yearly decline.
- Births were 1.62 million fewer than in 2024, a drop of roughly 17% that reversed the prior year’s brief uptick.
- Authorities have rolled out measures including childcare subsidies, scrapping fees in public nurseries, a 13% VAT on contraceptives, nationwide marriage registration, and a 2026 pledge of no out-of-pocket pregnancy medical costs including IVF.
- About 23% of citizens are over 60 and UN models project the population could trend toward 633 million by 2100 without a sustained fertility rebound.