China’s population fell for a fourth consecutive year in 2025 as the birthrate plunged to another record low despite the introduction of polices aimed at encouraging people to have children. Yi Fuxian, a demographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said births in 2025 were “roughly the same level as in 1738, when China’s population was only about 150 million”. The effects of the policy, which was lifted in 2017, mean that the pool of people of child-bearing age is also shrinking, as China’s population rapidly ages. China’s death rate of 8.04 for every 1,000 members of the population in 2025 was the highest since 1968. China’s urbanisation rate was 68% in 2025, up from about 43% in 2005.

Source: The Guardian January 19, 2026 20:31 UTC