China’s Birth Rate Falls to Four-Decade Low

China’s birth rate fell to its lowest point in more than four decades last year, according to official data published by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The birth rate stood at 8.52 per 1,000 people in 2020, down from 10.41 in 2019, according to the China Statistical Yearbook 2021. That’s the first time the figure has dropped below 10 since 1978.

The seventh national census shows that China registered 12 million newborn babies in 2020, with a lower-than-expected fertility rate of 1.3 for women of childbearing age.