No Baby Boom In China As Births Continue Downtrend

The number of newborns in China plummeted 15 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Public Security, with the onset of the novel coronavirus disrupting the economy and weighing on decisions to have a family.

China saw 10.035 million births last year, the ministry said, compared with 11.79 million in 2019.

It marked the fourth consecutive year that figure has declined.

Of those born last year, 52.7 percent were boys and 47.3 percent girls.

In recent years, many couples have been reluctant to have children due to the rising cost of health care, education and housing.

The abandoning of the decades-long one-child policy in 2016 has not provided much impetus to the country's birth rate.

The economic uncertainties brought on by Covid-19 last year further weighed on decisions to have children, extending a long-term birth decline in the world's most populous but fast-ageing nation.

In November, China started a once-a-decade census, with much of the attention on whether it indicates any population bump from the relaxation of family planning rules.

Demographic experts have estimated it could take 15 years for the two-child policy to have any noticeable effect on population numbers.

State media in December quoted civil affairs minister Li Jiheng as saying the country's fertility rate has "dropped dangerously", well below the population replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman.

Retirees, meanwhile, are expected to number 300 million by 2025.

Rapid ageing will create policy headwinds for Chinese leaders as they promise to guarantee health care and pension payments.

The National Bureau of Statistics is expected to release official 2020 population data in late February. (AFP/Reuters)