China's birth rate at record low

China's birth rate plummeted to a record low last year, official data showed Monday, as analysts warn that faster-than-expected ageing could deepen economic growth concerns.

Beijing has been grappling with a looming demographic crisis as it faces a rapidly ageing workforce, slowing economy and the country's weakest population growth in decades.

The birth rate of the world's second-biggest economy slipped to 7.52 births per 1 000 people, according to National Bureau of Statistics data, down from 8.52 in 2020.

The figures are the lowest since records began in 1949, when Communist China was founded, according to NBS data.

It also marks the lowest figure logged in China's annual Statistical Yearbook data a yearly assessment of the country's economy dating back to 1978.

Although officials relaxed the nation's one-child policy in 2016 allowing couples to have two children and easing some of the world's strictest family planning regulations the changes have failed to bring about a baby boom.

Last year, Chinese authorities extended the policy further to allow couples to have three children. But in 2021, the country logged 10.62 million births, according to official data, bringing its population to 1.41 billion.

The natural population growth rate plunged to 0.34 per 1 000 people, from an earlier 1.45 figure.

Higher costs of living and a cultural shift, with people now used to smaller families, have been cited as reasons behind the lower number of babies. -AFP