Number of 1-year-olds, by sex in China

China: Number of 1-year-olds, by sex was 4.70 million people in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
4.70 million people
Change on year
down 10.6%
World rank
2nd
of 236 countries
All-time high
13.90 million people
in 1971
All-time low
4.70 million people
in 2023
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Number of 1-year-olds, by sex in China, 1950–2023

4.0M6.0M8.0M10.0M12.0M14.0M195019862023

Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

The most recent figure for number of 1-year-olds, by sex in China is 4.70 million people, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 74 years on record.

The figure is down 10.6% on the previous year and down 44.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of 1-year-olds, by sex in China peaked at 13.90 million people in 1971 and was at its lowest, 4.70 million people, in 2023.

That places China 2nd out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 74 years of available data.

Number of 1-year-olds, by sex in China, year by year

Annual values for Number of 1-year-olds, by sex in China, 1950 to 2023.
Year people Change
1950 8.02 million people
1951 8.79 million people +9.6%
1952 9.36 million people +6.5%
1953 10.07 million people +7.5%
1954 10.52 million people +4.5%
1955 10.53 million people +0.2%
1956 10.91 million people +3.5%
1957 10.71 million people -1.8%
1958 11.03 million people +3.0%
1959 10.87 million people -1.5%
1960 8.99 million people -17.2%
1961 7.69 million people -14.5%
1962 7.27 million people -5.5%
1963 9.37 million people +28.9%
1964 13.15 million people +40.4%
1965 13.89 million people +5.6%
1966 13.19 million people -5.0%
1967 13.05 million people -1.1%
1968 12.52 million people -4.0%
1969 13.10 million people +4.6%
1970 13.90 million people +6.1%
1971 13.90 million people +0.0%
1972 13.67 million people -1.7%
1973 13.08 million people -4.3%
1974 12.67 million people -3.1%
1975 12.04 million people -5.0%
1976 11.05 million people -8.3%
1977 10.27 million people -7.1%
1978 9.66 million people -5.9%
1979 9.29 million people -3.9%
1980 9.50 million people +2.3%
1981 9.84 million people +3.6%
1982 10.16 million people +3.3%
1983 10.78 million people +6.1%
1984 10.60 million people -1.7%
1985 10.26 million people -3.2%
1986 10.81 million people +5.4%
1987 11.51 million people +6.5%
1988 12.27 million people +6.6%
1989 12.32 million people +0.5%
1990 12.22 million people -0.9%
1991 12.55 million people +2.8%
1992 11.48 million people -8.6%
1993 9.87 million people -14.1%
1994 9.29 million people -5.8%
1995 8.92 million people -4.0%
1996 8.64 million people -3.2%
1997 8.36 million people -3.3%
1998 8.06 million people -3.6%
1999 7.80 million people -3.1%
2000 7.62 million people -2.3%
2001 7.71 million people +1.1%
2002 7.65 million people -0.8%
2003 7.39 million people -3.4%
2004 7.31 million people -1.0%
2005 7.34 million people +0.4%
2006 7.44 million people +1.3%
2007 7.54 million people +1.3%
2008 7.69 million people +1.9%
2009 7.89 million people +2.7%
2010 8.10 million people +2.6%
2011 8.17 million people +0.8%
2012 8.14 million people -0.4%
2013 8.46 million people +4.0%
2014 8.59 million people +1.5%
2015 8.50 million people -1.0%
2016 8.35 million people -1.8%
2017 8.28 million people -0.9%
2018 8.49 million people +2.6%
2019 7.81 million people -8.0%
2020 6.96 million people -11.0%
2021 6.18 million people -11.2%
2022 5.26 million people -14.9%
2023 4.70 million people -10.6%

China compared with similar countries

  • China's 4.70 million people is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 41,663 people, 112.8× the median. (58 countries reporting)
  • China's 4.70 million people is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 14,573 people, 322.5× the median. (37 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Number of 1-year-olds, by sex in China changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
1964 +40.4% 9.37 million people 13.15 million people

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 10.08 million people 8.02 million people 11.03 million people 10
1960s 11.22 million people 7.27 million people 13.89 million people 10
1970s 11.95 million people 9.29 million people 13.90 million people 10
1980s 10.81 million people 9.50 million people 12.32 million people 10
1990s 9.72 million people 7.80 million people 12.55 million people 10
2000s 7.56 million people 7.31 million people 7.89 million people 10
2010s 8.29 million people 7.81 million people 8.59 million people 10
2020s 5.77 million people 4.70 million people 6.96 million people 4

Countries ranked near China

  1. 1 India 10.92 million people compare
  2. 3 Nigeria 3.36 million people compare
  3. 4 Pakistan 3.15 million people compare
  4. 5 Indonesia 2.16 million people compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More reference data data for China

All data for China →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of 1-year-olds, by sex in China?
Number of 1-year-olds, by sex in China was 4.70 million people in 2023, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of 1-year-olds, by sex recorded in China?
The highest recorded value was 13.90 million people in 1971.
What is the lowest number of 1-year-olds, by sex recorded in China?
The lowest recorded value was 4.70 million people in 2023.
How does China rank for number of 1-year-olds, by sex?
China ranks 2nd out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is number of 1-year-olds, by sex rising or falling in China?
Over the last ten years it is down 44.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this China data come from?
The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of 1-year-olds, by sex. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Number of 1-year-olds, by sex in China. Statizoid, drawing on UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-one-year-olds/china/

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About this data

Indicator
Number of 1-year-olds, by sex
Unit
people
Source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

Total population, measured on 1 July of the year shown. This only includes women aged 1.