China’s birth rate drops to lowest level since Mao Zedong's communist revolution

China’s birth rate dropped to its lowest level since 1949, the first year of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule over the mainland under Chairman Mao Zedong. 

The new data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics also show that China’s total population declined for the fourth consecutive year, dropping from 1.408 billion in 2024 to 1.405 billion at the end of 2025, according to multiple outlets that reported the figures. 

The birth rate, which fell to 5.63 per 1,000 people in 2025 from 6.77 a year earlier, follows several years of declines since at least 2017 as the country battles demographic pressures, including a growing elderly population and a declining workforce. The trend also threatens the Chinese Communist Party’s economic growth model, which has staked its legitimacy on GDP growth. 

The Communist Party’s infamous one-child policy, which officially ended in 2015, is widely considered one of the main causes of the declining population and low fertility rates. China was the world’s most populous nation until 2023, when it was overtaken by India. 

In response, the Chinese government has attempted to reverse the trend with new policies to encourage births, like child-care subsidies.