— Overview
The notes stay with the first change in China’s births and deaths after 1949, and they stop as a low-growth period is named.
— Contents and key concepts
6.01 births, and a later average of two
After 1949, the notes say, China’s average fertility from 1950 to 1970 was 6.01 births. The world average then was 4.95, and the high-income average was 2.885. China’s figure ran well above the high-income level.
That high fertility lasted until 1990. From 1990 to 1995, they write, China’s average was 2: 1.04 below the world average, and 0.2 above the high-income average. The numbers stay in the window the notes give.
1949 to 1957: deaths fall, and a baby boom
As living conditions and medical care improved, births rose then fell, deaths fell little by little, and natural increase rose then fell. After 1949 the population, they say, moved through four stages, from high births and high deaths toward low births and low deaths.
From 1949 to 1957 the death rate, as they write it, fell from 20 percent to 10.8 percent, and infant mortality from 195 per thousand to 61. The birth rate stayed above 35 percent; newborns ran between 17 and 22 million; natural increase rose quickly in a baby boom.
1958 to 1962, named as a low-growth stretch, and a stop
They name 1958 to 1962 as a period when China’s population grew slowly.
The student body stops there, and does not go on into later years or into a five-stage policy history. The notes leave that turn only as a name. The same Korean report, at fuller length, is on CampusDown.
Sources
- The notes, a student account of China’s fertility after 1949: 6.01 births in 1950–1970, a death rate written as 20 percent then 10.8 percent by 1957, infant mortality from 195 to 61 per thousand, and 1958–1962 named as a low-growth stretch where the notes stop.
Last updated: 15 November 2026
Frequently asked questions
What fertility figures do the notes set against the world?
After the founding of the People’s Republic, the notes say, China’s average fertility from 1950 to 1970 was 6.01 births. The world average then was 4.95, and the average for high-income countries was 2.885. China’s figure, they write, ran well above the high-income level. That high fertility lasted until 1990; from 1990 to 1995, China’s average was 2, which was 1.04 below the world average and 0.2 above the high-income average. They keep those numbers in the window the notes give, and do not update them as if they were current totals.
How do they describe the first change after 1949?
As living conditions and medical care improved, births first rose and then fell, deaths fell little by little, and natural increase rose and then fell. After 1949, they say, the population moved through four stages, from high births, high deaths, and low natural increase toward low births, low deaths, and low natural increase. From 1949 to 1957 the shift began: society grew more stable, health improved, the death rate fell sharply, natural increase rose, and a baby boom made births rise quickly. The death rate, as they write it, was 20 percent in 1949 and 10.8 percent in 1957. Infant mortality fell from 195 per thousand in 1949 to 61 per thousand in 1957. Youth deaths also fell sharply, while the birth rate stayed above 35 percent. Total fertility, they say, held around six percent — the wording is theirs — and newborns each year ran between 17 and 22 million. The gap between births and deaths widened, and natural increase rose quickly.
Where do the notes stop?
They name 1958 to 1962 as a period when China’s population grew slowly, and they stop there. They do not, in the student body, go on into later years or into a five-stage account of population policy. The notes leave that turn only as a name.
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