China’s Top Provincial Economy Leads in Births Last Year

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Guangdong, the largest Chinese province by gross domestic product for the past 36 years, also had the highest number of newborns in the country, defying the trend that urbanization and economic growth correlate with low birth rates. In 2024, the province recorded 1.13 million newborns, surpassing the one-million mark for the fifth consecutive year and securing the top spot in China for the seventh year. According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics, its birth rate was 8.89 per thousand, placing it seventh nationwide.

Last year, Guangdong’s economy reached a GDP of CNY 14.1 trillion (approximately USD 1.9 trillion), exceeding CNY 10 trillion for the fifth year in a row. Its urbanization rate stood at 75.9 percent, the fourth highest across the country. The province’s high birth numbers are attributed to its demographic advantages, being China’s most populous region with the largest influx of migrants—many of whom are young adults in prime reproductive years, as explained by Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform.

In addition, traditional family-oriented cultures in areas like Chaoshan in the east and Zhanjiang in the west continue to promote stronger family planning preferences compared to other parts of China, Peng added. The national data shows that China had a total of 9.54 million newborns last year, with the top ten province-level regions—Guangdong, Henan, Shandong, Sichuan, Hebei, Jiangsu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Zhejiang, and Yunnan—accounting for nearly 59 percent of the total.

Henan ranked second with 762,000 newborns, followed by Shandong with 649,000, and Sichuan with 536,000. Provinces including Hebei, Jiangsu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Zhejiang, and Yunnan each saw their newborn counts surpass 400,000. Notably, Jiangsu experienced its first increase last year, with 17,000 more births, totaling 426,000 compared to the previous year.

Regarding birth rates, 14 provincial regions exceeded the national average of 6.77 per thousand, with 10 surpassing 8 per thousand. Most of these regions are in western and southern China. Moreover, eleven regions reported growth in natural population increase last year, up from eight in 2023. These include areas such as Tibet Autonomous Region, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Qinghai, Guangdong, Beijing, and Fujian, primarily situated along the coast or in the western part of the country.