Preschool Enrollment in China Falls, Indicating Effects of Low Birth Rate

Young Chinese children attend a preschool in Beijing, China, on April 26, 2012. STR/AFP/Getty Images

The gravity of China’s declining population was made apparent in recent official statistics.

The number of children enrolled in preschool in 2018 fell to 18.6 million, a roughly 3.8 percent decline from the prior year, according to recently published data from China’s Ministry of Education (MOE).