(Correction in paragraph 1 to show a decrease of 3.39 million, not 339 million)
BEIJING, Jan 19 (Reuters) – China’s population will decline for the fourth consecutive year in 2025, falling by 3.39 million to 1.405 billion, official data showed on Monday, a faster decline than in 2024.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China show that the total number of births in China fell from 9.54 million in 2024 to 7.92 million in 2025, the lowest level in decades. The number of deaths will rise to 11.31 million from 10.93 million in 2024.
China’s population has been shrinking since 2022 and is aging rapidly, complicating Beijing’s plans to stimulate domestic consumption and rein in debt, with hundreds of millions of people set to leave the workforce at a time when pension budgets are already stretched thin.
The number of marriage registrations in China fell by a fifth in 2024, the largest decline on record, with more than 6.1 million couples registering for marriage, down from 7.68 million couples in 2023.
Marriage is often a leading indicator of birth rates in China.
However, demographers say the country may see a temporary small increase in its birth rate in the coming year, after China began allowing couples to marry anywhere in the country (rather than where they live) in May 2025, making the process easier.
(Writing by Farah Master in Hong Kong; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Kate Mayberry)
