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Asia · Eastern Asia

How many babies are born in China?

8.62 million babies born in China in 2026. That is 6.51% of all births worldwide, and the 2nd largest of any country. UN projection

2024–2100 uses the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium scenario, based on assumptions about fertility, mortality and migration. These are projections, not observed births or guaranteed outcomes. Uncertainty increases further into the future; this site does not display prediction intervals.

Births in China: history and projections

1M10M 1 CE1000150018002100
Annual births, logarithmic scale. Shading marks modelled years before 1800; the dashed line marks UN projections from 2024.
Every figure refers to the area inside China’s present-day borders. Before 1800 the state did not exist in its current form. See how borders are handled.
Year Estimated births Population Per 1,000 Evidence
1 CE ~2.2M ~58M 38.8 Modelled estimate
1000 ~1.6M ~37M 44.4 Modelled estimate
1500 ~3.8M ~91M 41.9 Modelled estimate
1800 ~12.7M ~330M 38.6 Historical reconstruction
1900 ~15.3M ~396M 38.6 Historical reconstruction
1950 22.3M 544M 41.0 UN estimate
2000 17.5M 1.27B 13.8 UN estimate
2023 8.91M 1.42B 6.3 UN estimate
2026 8.62M 1.41B 6.1 UN projection
2050 7.37M 1.26B 5.9 UN projection
2075 4.91M 934M 5.3 UN projection
2100 3.1M 633M 4.9 UN projection

What the numbers show

The highest annual births in China among estimates through 2023 were in 1963, at about 33.5M. That is roughly 15 times the estimated ~2.24M births a year in 1 CE.

At 1.03 children per woman, fertility in China is below the level of about 2.1 that would hold a population steady over the long run without migration.

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How many babies are born in China each year?

An estimated 8.62 million babies are born in China in 2026, according to the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium projection. That is about 23,600 a day and 6.51% of all births worldwide.

What is the birth rate in China?

China has an estimated 6.1 births per 1,000 people in 2026, and a total fertility rate of 1.03 children per woman.

Where these numbers come from

2026 figures are the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium scenario. UN estimates cover 1950–2023; projections cover 2024–2100. Earlier years come from Gapminder’s reconstructions (1800–1949) and a model applied to HYDE population estimates (before 1800). The full chain is set out in the methodology, and every source is listed on the sources page.