The "one-child" policy has reduced
population growth
Population control was anathema to the Mao regime in
the 1950s and 1960s, although contraception was encouraged on health
grounds. Improvements in healthcare pulled the death rate down while
births continued to soar: the classic "population explosion"
phase of demographic transition. Birth control measures were promoted
in the early 1970s and these succeeded in bringing down the birth rate
from 33.43 in 1970 to 18.21 by 1980. The implementation of the
"one child" policy in the early 1980s coincided with the
coming of age of the "baby boom" generation, so the birth
rate slipped back up to 23.33 in 1987 before subsiding steadily
to reach 16.03 by 1998, pulling the natural growth rate (birth rate
minus death rate) down from 16.61 to 9.53 over the same period.Official figures understate total population...
The official total population figure of 1,334.7 million people at the end of 2009 is
almost certainly an underestimate.
In addition to the difficulties of counting so many people over such a
wide area, China faces additional problems as a result of the
one-child policy. Although the policy has been relaxed in rural areas
to allow couples who have a daughter to try for a boy, many people
still seek to have more children than allowed and some families use
various means to avoid registering their extra children, such as
fleeing to the anonymity of a big city. Deliberate avoidance of census
takers is therefore likely to be higher than in other countries.
...and urbanisation
The urbanisation process characteristic of developing
economies has intensified during the past two decades of economic
reform as controls on population movement have been eased. The figures
show this trend quite clearly, but the urban proportion may be
understated for definitional reasons. |
|
Million people
|
|
1969
|
806.7 |
|
1970
|
829.9
|
|
1971
|
852.3
|
|
1972
|
871.8
|
|
1973
|
892.1
|
|
1974
|
908.6
|
|
1975
|
924.2
|
|
1976
|
937.2
|
|
1977
|
949.7
|
|
1978
|
962.6
|
|
1979
|
975.4
|
|
1980
|
996.1
|
|
1981
|
1,008.4
|
|
1982
|
1,020.6
|
|
1983
|
1,039.6
|
|
1984
|
1,054.9
|
|
1985
|
1,070.2
|
|
1986
|
1,086.7
|
|
1987
|
1,104.2
|
|
1988
|
1,121.9
|
|
1989
|
1,127.0
|
|
1990
|
1,143.3
|
|
1991
|
1,158.2
|
|
1992
|
1,171.7
|
|
1993
|
1,185.2
|
|
1994
|
1,198.5
|
|
1995
|
1,211.2
|
|
1996
|
1,223.9
|
|
1997
|
1,236.3
|
|
1998
|
1,247.6
|
|
1999
|
1,257.9
|
|
2000
|
1,267.4
|
|
2001
|
1,276.3
|
|
2002
|
1,284.5
|
|
2003
|
1,292.3
|
|
2004 |
1,299.9 |
|
2005 |
1,307.6 |
|
2006 |
1,314.5 |
|
2007 |
1,321.3 |
|
2008 |
1,328.0 |
|
2009 |
1,334.7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Birth rate
(per '000 per year)
|
Death rate
(per '000 per year)
|
Natural growth rate
(per '000 per year)
|
|
1985
|
21.04
|
6.78
|
14.26
|
|
1986
|
22.43
|
6.86
|
15.57
|
|
1987
|
23.33
|
6.72
|
16.61
|
|
1988
|
22.37
|
6.64
|
15.73
|
|
1989
|
21.58
|
6.54
|
15.04
|
|
1990
|
21.06
|
6.67
|
14.39
|
|
1991
|
19.68
|
6.70
|
12.98
|
|
1992
|
18.24
|
6.64
|
11.60
|
|
1993
|
18.09
|
6.64
|
11.45
|
|
1994
|
17.70
|
6.49
|
11.21
|
|
1995
|
17.12
|
6.57
|
10.55
|
|
1996
|
16.98
|
6.56
|
10.42
|
|
1997
|
16.57
|
6.51
|
10.06
|
|
1998
|
16.03
|
6.50
|
9.53
|
|
1999
|
14.64 |
6.46 |
8.18 |
|
2000
|
14.03 |
6.45 |
7.58 |
|
2001
|
13.38 |
6.43 |
6.95 |
|
2002
|
12.86 |
6.41 |
6.45 |
|
2003
|
12.41 |
6.40 |
6.01 |
|
2004 |
12.29 |
6.42 |
5.87 |
|
2005 |
12.40 |
6.51 |
5.89 |
|
2006 |
12.09 |
6.81 |
5.28 |
|
2007 |
12.10 |
6.93 |
5.17 |
|
2008 |
12.14 |
7.06 |
5.08 |
|
2009 |
12.13 |
7.08 |
5.05 |
|
|
|
Urban (%)
|
Rural (%)
|
|
1985
|
23.7 |
76.3 |
|
1986
|
24.5
|
75.5
|
|
1987
|
25.3
|
74.7
|
|
1988
|
25.8
|
74.2
|
|
1989
|
26.21
|
73.79
|
|
1990
|
26.41
|
73.59
|
|
1991
|
26.94
|
73.06
|
|
1992
|
27.46
|
72.54
|
|
1993
|
27.99
|
72.01
|
|
1994
|
28.51
|
71.49
|
|
1995
|
29.04
|
70.96
|
|
1996
|
30.48
|
69.52
|
|
1997
|
31.91
|
68.09
|
|
1998
|
33.35
|
66.65
|
|
1999
|
34.78 |
65.22 |
|
2000
|
36.22 |
63.78 |
|
2001
|
37.66 |
62.34 |
|
2002
|
39.09 |
60.91 |
|
2003
|
40.53 |
59.47 |
|
2004 |
41.76 |
58.24 |
|
2005 |
42.99 |
57.01 |
|
2006 |
43.90 |
56.10 |
|
2007 |
44.94 |
55.06 |
|
2008 |
45.68 |
54.32 |
|
2009 |
46.59 |
53.41 |
|
