Birthrates across China down in 2018 - China daily

Birthrates across China saw a general decline last year, with more developed regions generally recording lower birthrates, according to population statistics released by local authorities.

Alarmed by the rapid aging of its population, China relaxed its controversial “one-child policy” in 2016, allowing all couples to have two children instead of just one.

The change has failed to reverse what demographers say is a long-term trend of falling birth rates fuelled by growing prosperity and concerns about the high cost of raising children.

Beijing's birthrate last year was 8.24 per 1,000, compared with 9.06 in 2017, the Beijing Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

Shanghai's birthrate in 2018 was 7.2 per 1,000, compared with 8.1 a year prior, according to the municipality's statistics bureau.

Liaoning province's birthrate last year was 6.39 per 1,000, down from 6.49 in 2017, according to the provincial statistics bureau.

Compared with developed regions such as Beijing and Shanghai, where birthrates are among the lowest in the nation, less-developed western regions recorded higher birthrates.

China recorded 15.23 million births last year, down 2 million from 2017 and the second consecutive annual decline, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)

The decline in births has prompted concerns among some population experts that a general decrease in the total population may come earlier than expected.

Throughout China and the whole world, it is generally the trend that people in more developed areas tend to have fewer children, he said.

In addition to worries about the financial burdens of raising children, difficulty in finding daycare for offspring when the parents are at work is also a major reason why couples are reluctant to have children, according to a survey by the National Health Commission.

The commission will work with other departments to research and improve policies involving taxation, employment, social security, and housing to support the implementation of the universal second-child policy, according to the commission.