Beijing [China]: China registered its lowest birth rate on record in 2025, as the country’s population declined for the fourth consecutive year, intensifying long-term demographic concerns that could impact the world’s second-largest economy, according to a CNN report.
Citing data released on Monday by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, CNN reported that the country’s birth rate fell to 5.63 births per 1,000 people in 2025, below the previous record low of 6.39 births per 1,000 recorded in 2023. The figures indicate that the modest rise in births observed in 2024 was an anomaly rather than a sign of sustained recovery.
The data further showed that China’s population continued to shrink last year. In 2025, the country recorded 7.92 million births and 11.31 million deaths, resulting in a net population decline of 3.39 million.
China also remained the second most populous country in the world for the second consecutive year, after India overtook China in 2023 to become the world’s most populous nation.
Despite the demographic downturn, Chinese authorities said the economy achieved its annual growth target. According to the CNN report, China’s economy expanded by 5 per cent in 2025, in line with the government’s stated objective of growth of “around 5 per cent.”
Economic growth during the year was largely driven by a surge in exports, which helped offset weak domestic consumption and persistent trade tensions with the United States. China posted a record trade surplus of $1.2 trillion in 2025, despite US President Donald Trump’s intermittent trade war with Beijing.
However, the data also indicated signs of slowing economic momentum toward the end of the year. In the fourth quarter of 2025, China’s economy grew by 4.5 per cent year-on-year, marking the slowest quarterly growth since late 2022, the report added.
