China’s population falls for a fourth straight year
China’s population declines for fourth consecutive year in 2025; It decreased by 339 million to 1.405 billion, a faster decline than in 2024.
Official data released on Monday revealed that the total number of births in China fell to 7.92 million in 2025, the lowest in decades, from 9.54 million in 2024.
According to figures from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the number of deaths increased from 10.93 million to 11.31 million in 2024.
China’s population has been shrinking and aging rapidly since 2022, with hundreds of millions of people set to leave the workforce at a time when retirement budgets are already strained, complicating Beijing’s plan to boost domestic consumption and rein in debt.
Marriages in China will fall by a fifth in 2024, the biggest decline in history; The number of couples registering for marriage dropped from 7.68 million to 6.1 million in 2023.
Marriages are often a leading indicator of birth rates in China.
But demographers said the country could see a slight temporary increase in births next year after China eased the process in May 2025 by allowing couples to marry anywhere in the country rather than where they reside.
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