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China's birth rate falls to lowest level: Official
Khaleej Times
|January 20, 2026
China's birth rate fell last year to its lowest level on record, official data showed on Monday, as its population shrank for a fourth year running despite authorities' efforts to curb the decline.
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There were just 7.92 million births recorded last year, Chinese officials said Monday, a rate of 5.63 births per thousand people.
It marks the lowest birth rate since records by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) began in 1949 — the year Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
This story is from the January 20, 2026 edition of Khaleej Times.
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