Kindergarten and School-Aged Pupil Enrolments Drop Sharply Amid China’s Decline in Births

News Analysis
China’s kindergartens and elementary schools have seen student numbers decreasing dramatically following the year-by-year shrinking of China’s birth rate. The trend is expected to intensify and extend to higher grades in middle schools and colleges in the upcoming years.
On March 23, the Ministry of Education said in a press conference that in 2022, 46,275,500 children enrolled in preschool education in China, 1,776,600 fewer than the 48,052,100 registered in 2021.
Official data shows that the number of children in kindergarten decreased from 2002 to 2013, rallied from 2014 to 2020, and for the first time, declined by 130,600 pupils in 2021, according to a report in Chinese financial media 21jingji….