These are figures that heighten concerns about the aging of the population. China's birth rate dropped last year to its lowest level since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, the government said on Friday.
In 2019, the birth rate stood at only 10.48 births per 1,000 inhabitants, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (BNS). The number of births has been falling for three years. A total of 14.65 million babies were born in 2019, after 15.23 million in 2018 and 17.23 million in 2017.
In order to avoid a demographic crisis, the country softened in 2016 its policy of limiting births (known as "the only child") by allowing all couples to have up to two children. However, the measure did not have the desired effect.
896.4 million people aged 16 to 59
Despite everything, China's total population exceeded 1.4 billion people for the first time last year, or 4.67 million more in one year. The active population continued its decline in 2019, however. The BNS recorded last year 896.4 million people aged 16 to 59, considered to be of working age, an annual fall of 0.10%. It was the eighth consecutive year of decline.
Experts call for the complete lifting of the birth control to counter the phenomenon. But the rising cost of living is discouraging many Chinese people from having more children.