Charts of the Day: China’s High Cost of Childrearing

A Chinese family needs nearly $75,000 on average to raise a child to adulthood, which is more than six times the country’s GDP per capita in 2022, constituting one of the highest ratios among major countries worldwide, a recent study showed.

The 2024 China Childbearing and Childrearing Cost report, published this week by the YuWa Population Research Institute, found the average cost of raising a child from conception to 17 years old is 538,312 yuan ($74,830) in China. And in major cities like Shanghai, the cost is almost double that amount.