China’s Population Drops for Fourth Straight Year

China’s population fell by 3.39 million to 1.405 billion in 2025, marking the 4th straight year of decline, following a 1.39 million drop in 2024. It also marked the lowest population since 2017, with the total number of births declining to 7.92 million in 2025, its lowest in decades, from 9.54 million in 2024. Meanwhile, the number of deaths rose to 11.31 million from 10.93 million in 2024. China’s population continued to age in 2025, with those aged 60 and above numbering 323 million and accounting for 23% of the total population, up one percentage point from 2024. China’s population policy is emerging as a key part of its economic strategy, as Beijing rolls out its most wide-ranging push to boost a flagging birth rate. Beijing is looking at a total potential cost of around CNY 180 billion in 2026 to encourage births, according to Reuters estimates, as authorities grapple with undoing decades of strict population control that helped tackle poverty but reshaped Chinese families.