China’s population climbed to 1.37 billion last year, 6.8 million higher than in 2014 but childbirths dropped by 3,20,000 in the same period despite relaxation of the controversial one-child policy since 2013, indicating the reluctance of couples to have a second child.
Around 16.55 million children were born in China in 2015, about 3,20,000 fewer than the previous year despite relaxation of the family planning policy in 2013.
Numbers in 2015: 1.37 billion
The total population of the Chinese mainland stood at 1.37 billion in 2015, 6.8 million higher than in 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.
Population experts previously predicted that about 1 million more newborns should be born in 2015 than were born in 2014 due to the easing of the one-child policy in 2013 to allow more couples to have a second child. Experts also expected the total number of newborn children to hit 18 million in 2015, state-run Global Times reported.
It is in the intention
“The decrease in the number of newborns was caused by the low child-bearing intentions of women in ideal childbearing age and shrinking number of those at the ideal age,” Huang Wenzheng, a former Harvard University assistant professor and expert on population, told news outlet yicai.com.
China has permitted couples to have two children from this year, scrapping its one-child policy of 35 years.
Mr. Huang said that the impact of allowing all couples in China to have a second child was overestimated. He expected that the number of births in 2017 was unlikely to exceed 17 million.
Echoing Mr. Huang, Yao Mei-xiong, deputy head of the Centre for Population Census of the Fujian Province Bureau of Statistics, has said that China’s population is set to experience negative growth every year after 2025, yicai.com reported.
Counting can wait till year-end
Zhai Zhenwu, chairman of the standing council of the China Population Association under the National Health and Family Planning Commission, told the Global Times that the impact of the relaxed policy will not be felt fully until 2016.
As all couples are now allowed to have two children as of January 1, the number of newborn second children will likely exceed 1 million, he said.
China introduced its family planning policy in the 1970s, and the government began limiting most couples to having one child in 1980.
The country relaxed the policy for the first time in 2013 by allowing couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child.
Gender imbalance
According to the NBS, the male population reached 704 million while the female population was about 670 million, leaving a male-to-female ratio of 105.02 to 100.
