China birth & fertility rate charts by year

Fertility rate in China chart

According to the latest birth rate data available, the fertility rate in China was 1 in 2023 and has been below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman since 1991. In 1993, the fertility rate was 1.69 — a -40.9% decline in 30 years.

Check population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases the historical changes in birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	China	World
1960	4.45	4.69
1961	3.86	4.56
1962	6.09	5.02
1963	7.51	5.31
1964	6.67	5.13
1965	6.61	5.08
1966	6.31	4.97
1967	5.81	4.87
1968	6.51	4.98
1969	6.18	4.88
1970	6.09	4.84
1971	5.52	4.69
1972	5.11	4.55
1973	4.73	4.42
1974	4.17	4.26
1975	3.57	4.07
1976	3.24	3.97
1977	2.84	3.84
1978	2.72	3.77
1979	2.75	3.76
1980	2.74	3.73
1981	2.79	3.71
1982	2.97	3.72
1983	2.56	3.59
1984	2.61	3.57
1985	2.63	3.53
1986	2.72	3.51
1987	2.76	3.48
1988	2.54	3.39
1989	2.52	3.35
1990	2.51	3.31
1991	1.93	3.13
1992	1.78	3.04
1993	1.69	2.97
1994	1.63	2.92
1995	1.59	2.87
1996	1.55	2.82
1997	1.53	2.78
1998	1.52	2.75
1999	1.53	2.72
2000	1.63	2.73
2001	1.56	2.69
2002	1.57	2.66
2003	1.57	2.64
2004	1.61	2.63
2005	1.62	2.61
2006	1.64	2.61
2007	1.67	2.6
2008	1.7	2.6
2009	1.71	2.59
2010	1.69	2.57
2011	1.67	2.55
2012	1.8	2.56
2013	1.71	2.53
2014	1.77	2.52
2015	1.67	2.49
2016	1.77	2.49
2017	1.8	2.46
2018	1.54	2.39
2019	1.5	2.35
2020	1.24	2.28
2021	1.12	2.25
2022	1.03	2.22
2023	1	2.2
2024	1.01	2.19
2025	1.02	2.18
2026	1.03	2.18
2027	1.04	2.17
2028	1.05	2.16
2029	1.05	2.15
2030	1.06	2.14
2031	1.07	2.13
2032	1.08	2.12
2033	1.08	2.12
2034	1.09	2.11
2035	1.1	2.1
2036	1.1	2.09
2037	1.11	2.09
2038	1.12	2.08
2039	1.12	2.08
2040	1.13	2.08
2041	1.13	2.07
2042	1.14	2.07
2043	1.15	2.07
2044	1.15	2.07
2045	1.16	2.06
2046	1.16	2.06
2047	1.17	2.06
2048	1.17	2.05
2049	1.18	2.05
2050	1.18	2.05

Birth rates by women ages chart

In 2025, of all live births 2.31% were to women under 20 years old, 49.3% to women ages 20-29, and 48.4% to women ages 30 and above. In comparison, the percentages in 1990 were 4.97%, 82.7%, and 12.4% for the same age groups respectively. A chart displaying the historical birth rates in China by maternal age is provided below.

Annual births per 1,000 women ages

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Children 0-14 as share of population
	China	World
1960	40.3%	37.4%
1961	40%	37.5%
1962	40%	37.6%
1963	40.6%	37.8%
1964	41.2%	38%
1965	41.5%	38%
1966	41.5%	38%
1967	41.3%	38%
1968	41%	37.9%
1969	41%	37.8%
1970	40.8%	37.7%
1971	40.7%	37.6%
1972	40.4%	37.5%
1973	40.1%	37.3%
1974	40.2%	37.2%
1975	40.2%	37.1%
1976	40.3%	36.9%
1977	39.8%	36.7%
1978	38.6%	36.3%
1979	37.2%	35.9%
1980	36.1%	35.5%
1981	35.1%	35.2%
1982	34.3%	34.9%
1983	33.3%	34.6%
1984	32.2%	34.3%
1985	31.2%	34%
1986	30.4%	33.8%
1987	29.8%	33.6%
1988	29.3%	33.4%
1989	28.9%	33.2%
1990	28.8%	33%
1991	28.6%	32.9%
1992	28.4%	32.7%
1993	28.2%	32.5%
1994	27.8%	32.3%
1995	27.4%	32.1%
1996	27%	31.8%
1997	26.3%	31.5%
1998	25.7%	31.1%
1999	25.2%	30.8%
2000	24.5%	30.4%
2001	23.8%	30%
2002	22.9%	29.6%
2003	22%	29.2%
2004	21.2%	28.8%
2005	20.3%	28.5%
2006	19.6%	28.1%
2007	19.2%	27.9%
2008	18.9%	27.6%
2009	18.6%	27.5%
2010	18.5%	27.3%
2011	18.3%	27.1%
2012	18.3%	27%
2013	18.3%	26.9%
2014	18.3%	26.8%
2015	18.3%	26.6%
2016	18.3%	26.5%
2017	18.4%	26.4%
2018	18.3%	26.2%
2019	18.2%	26%
2020	18%	25.8%
2021	17.6%	25.6%
2022	17.1%	25.3%
2023	16.6%	25%
2024	16%	24.7%
2025	15.4%	24.4%
2026	14.8%	24.1%
2027	14.1%	23.8%
2028	13.5%	23.4%
2029	12.8%	23.1%
2030	12.1%	22.8%
2031	11.5%	22.6%
2032	10.8%	22.3%
2033	10.3%	22.1%
2034	9.83%	21.9%
2035	9.53%	21.7%
2036	9.37%	21.6%
2037	9.31%	21.5%
2038	9.31%	21.4%
2039	9.34%	21.3%
2040	9.38%	21.2%
2041	9.43%	21.1%
2042	9.49%	21%
2043	9.56%	21%
2044	9.63%	20.9%
2045	9.71%	20.8%
2046	9.78%	20.7%
2047	9.85%	20.7%
2048	9.9%	20.6%
2049	9.93%	20.5%
2050	9.94%	20.4%

The share of children aged 0-14 in China was 40.3% in 1960, 28.2% in 1993, and 16% as of the latest data in 2025.

More about the demographics of China.

Natural population change by year

For the past 10 years, the natural population change in China, excluding migration, has been +0.31% annually. On average, 4,241,452 more people were born each year than died.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	China
1960	-3,048,510
1961	2,496,047
1962	17,969,132
1963	22,742,225
1964	19,302,532
1965	20,296,950
1966	19,282,187
1967	19,263,662
1968	21,206,083
1969	20,760,332
1970	21,137,076
1971	19,622,980
1972	19,102,585
1973	18,423,727
1974	15,738,118
1975	14,378,237
1976	11,782,472
1977	11,378,068
1978	11,473,980
1979	11,250,148
1980	11,647,260
1981	14,461,027
1982	15,815,318
1983	13,599,789
1984	13,561,671
1985	14,987,830
1986	16,609,920
1987	18,005,821
1988	17,328,640
1989	16,824,495
1990	16,335,313
1991	14,937,124
1992	13,548,601
1993	13,493,138
1994	13,360,470
1995	12,711,220
1996	12,686,872
1997	12,374,554
1998	11,351,286
1999	10,247,372
2000	9,570,849
2001	8,839,358
2002	8,258,580
2003	7,743,284
2004	7,607,960
2005	7,678,911
2006	6,922,185
2007	6,813,465
2008	6,729,247
2009	6,483,236
2010	6,407,607
2011	8,245,065
2012	10,075,174
2013	8,043,116
2014	9,205,180
2015	6,788,911
2016	9,062,269
2017	7,790,880
2018	5,302,433
2019	4,673,713
2020	2,046,095
2021	480,203
2022	-847,305
2023	-2,087,851

Maternal mortality chart

The maternal mortality rate in China was 16 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.02% chance of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination. This is a -71.4% decrease compared to the year 2000.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	China	World
1985	125	460
1986	120	438
1987	114	429
1988	108	414
1989	104	401
1990	102	391
1991	92	395
1992	86	395
1993	80	389
1994	76	382
1995	71	371
1996	67	366
1997	63	358
1998	60	360
1999	58	340
2000	56	328
2001	52	321
2002	50	311
2003	47	301
2004	45	291
2005	42	283
2006	40	276
2007	38	269
2008	38	264
2009	35	258
2010	34	253
2011	33	247
2012	32	239
2013	30	235
2014	28	231
2015	26	228
2016	25	220
2017	24	215
2018	22	211
2019	21	207
2020	20	211
2021	21	242
2022	18	203
2023	16	197

Under-five mortality rate chart

The under-5 mortality rate in China was 6.2 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.62% chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five. This is down from 36.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	China	World
1960	-	18.5%
1961	-	18.1%
1962	-	17.8%
1963	-	17.5%
1964	-	17.7%
1965	-	17.5%
1966	-	17.3%
1967	-	17%
1968	-	16.5%
1969	11.9%	15.5%
1970	11.3%	15.2%
1971	10.7%	15.1%
1972	10.2%	14.4%
1973	9.61%	14.1%
1974	9.05%	13.7%
1975	8.5%	13.4%
1976	7.97%	13%
1977	7.47%	12.5%
1978	7.01%	12.1%
1979	6.62%	11.7%
1980	6.28%	11.4%
1981	6%	11%
1982	5.78%	10.8%
1983	5.61%	10.6%
1984	5.5%	10.4%
1985	5.43%	10.1%
1986	5.4%	9.81%
1987	5.4%	9.47%
1988	5.4%	9.31%
1989	5.39%	9.02%
1990	5.37%	8.81%
1991	5.31%	8.66%
1992	5.22%	8.46%
1993	5.08%	8.19%
1994	4.93%	7.98%
1995	4.75%	7.76%
1996	4.56%	7.52%
1997	4.36%	7.28%
1998	4.14%	7.05%
1999	3.91%	6.76%
2000	3.67%	6.48%
2001	3.42%	6.21%
2002	3.15%	5.94%
2003	2.89%	5.65%
2004	2.64%	5.43%
2005	2.4%	5.16%
2006	2.19%	4.92%
2007	2.01%	4.7%
2008	1.85%	4.5%
2009	1.71%	4.31%
2010	1.58%	4.11%
2011	1.46%	3.97%
2012	1.35%	3.77%
2013	1.25%	3.61%
2014	1.15%	3.48%
2015	1.07%	3.35%
2016	0.99%	3.23%
2017	0.92%	3.11%
2018	0.86%	2.97%
2019	0.8%	2.86%
2020	0.75%	2.75%
2021	0.7%	2.66%
2022	0.66%	2.59%
2023	0.62%	2.49%