Figure 1.8 Total number of births, 1980–2017
CHAPTER 1 POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS
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Sources: National Bureau of Statistics, China Statistical Yearbook, 1980–2010 data (calculated by mid-year population and birth rate); ‘Statistical Communiqué on the National Economic and Social Development’, 2011–2017 data
Figure 1.8
The total number of births shows a long-term decline with some fluctuations, reflecting the influence of family planning policy adjustments in different periods. In the mid-1980s, there was a small peak in the total number of births when the family planning policy was slightly relaxed. After 2014, when the Government issued the second-child policy, followed by the universal second-child policy, the total number of births in 2016 reached 17.86 million, the highest total since 2000. In 2017, the total number of births was 17.23 million. Although this is a slight decrease from the figures in 2016, it was still higher than the average level of 16.44 million during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (FYP) period between 2011 and 2015, and it was the second-highest total since 2000. The effects of the universal second-child policy remain evident.