China's birth rate fell below 1% in 2020, lowest in 43 years; reveal official statistics

Despite the Communist government lifting its family planning policy, China has reported the lowest birth rate last year in the past 43 years, state media reported citing Statistical Yearbook 2020. According to the report compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics, the country's birth rate fell below 1% last year, marking a new low in 43 years.

As per the report, the birth rate in 2020 was recorded as 8.52 per thousand people, Global Times reported citing the report of NBS. The report also noted that the natural growth rate of the population accounts for 1.45 per thousand, also a new low in 43 years. Notably, the birth rate in a period is the total number of live births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years.

Birth rate has nosedived in 2020 as compared to 2015

The survey also stressed that the extent of demographic problems contributed to the sharp decline in childbirth. Also, the report highlighted that the number of women of childbearing age, along with the impact of coronavirus, further deepened the problem. 

"An article published in May this year in a professional journal Population Research, affiliated with China Population and Development Research Center, found out that the monthly decline of birth rate has nosedived in 2020 compared with the same period of 2015, with November and December declining above 45% respectively, read the report published by Global Times.

Nearly 9,66,000 couples registered for divorce

It is worth mentioning that the country’s birth rate has been falling for years forcing the government to gradually ease the one-child policy, which was in place since the late 1970s. Now, with the then-new amendment announced in May this year, a Chinese couple can have three children. The decision was taken after the number of the country's newborns declined for four years straight. Moreover, in the report accumulated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there were 5.88 million marriages were registered during the first three quarters of this year. It noted the figures fall by 1.75% when compared to the pre-COVID period. Besides marriage, the research also claimed nearly 9,66,000 couples turned to the courts to break the ties in the first half of this year. However, the report shows a sigh of relief as nearly 50% of people chose to continue the relationship as compared to the last year.

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