China closes thousands of prep schools amid sharp dip in birth rate

Hit hard by China's deepening demographic crisis, thousands of famed kindergartens have been closed as enrolment of children dropped sharply across the country due to a significant decline in birth rates, according to an official report.

In 2023, the number of kindergartens fell by 14,808 to 2,74,400, the annual report by the Chinese education ministry stated. It is the second consecutive annual decline in the latest indicator of China's falling birth rates.

The number of children enrolled in kindergarten declined for a third consecutive year – dropping by 11.55 per cent, or 5.35 million, last year to 40.9 million, the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported on Sunday, quoting the ministry's report.

The number of primary schools also dropped by 5,645 to 143,500 in 2023, a 3.8 per cent fall. The decline reflects a broader demographic shift in China – where both birth rates and total population continue to dwindle – posing a serious threat to future economic growth, which is already slowing, the Post report said.

Last year, China's population dropped for the second year in a row, to 1.4 billion, a decline of over two million. Only nine million births were reported in China in 2023, the lowest figure since records started in 1949.

As a result of declining birth rates, China last year conceded its long-held status as the most populous country to India, whose population has overtaken that of China's. China faced a twin crisis. While on one hand the birth-rates and fertility rates dropped, there is also a sharp rise in the old age population.

China's population aged 60 years and above approached 300 million by the end of 2023.