China could see its number of births fall below 10 million a year over the next five years if the government does not quickly abolish its policy of limiting families to two children, a national media expert said.
China’s total population may also fall in a few years, said Yicai, a Chinese financial news center, Dong Yuzheng, director of the Guangdong Population Development Academy.
The number of babies born in China dropped from 580,000 to 14.65 million in 2019 and the birth rate of 10.48 per thousand was the lowest since 1949, when current methods of data collection began. , according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
It has not yet revealed any figures from last year, although it usually publishes these data at the end of February.
The country’s falling birth rate and its fast-paced fat society are expected to test its ability to pay for and care for its elderly.
Although China abolished its one-child policy for decades in 2016, couples have been discouraged from having larger families by rising health, education and housing costs. The economic uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have weighed even more heavily on decisions to have children.
Separate data from the Ministry of Public Security show that the number of births last year fell by 15%, to 10,035 million births, from 11.79 million in 2019.
The ministry may not count some children in rural areas, said Liu Kaiming, a labor expert in the southern city of Shenzhen, adding that he expects the number of newborns in 2020 to be between 10 and 14. millions.
“(The number of births) may fall below 10 million next year,” Liu said.
China has not yet announced the results of a ten-year census. It was previously said that the results would be published in early April.
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