Chart of the Day: China’s Low Fertility Rate

Since the early 1990s, Chinese couples have had fewer babies than their counterparts in India and the U.S.

Graphic: Gao Baiyu/Caixin

In 2016, China’s fertility rate was 1.624 births per woman, while the rates in India and the U.S. were 2.326 and 1.8 births per woman respectively, according to data from the World Bank.

China has set restrictions on family size (link in Chinese) for nearly four decades. From 1980 to 2015, each couple was allowed to have only one child, with some exemptions. The limit was abolished in 2016, when Beijing expanded the quota to two children as a response to the country’s rapidly aging population and shrinking workforce.

Recently, China scrapped several longstanding family planning departments, adding to speculation that the country might further ease its family planning policies to end restrictions on family size.

Contact reporter Charlotte Yang (yutingyang@caixin.com)