The public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre and the private Kiang Wu Hospital recorded just 3,603 births between them last year, according to the deputy director of the Health Bureau, Kuok Cheong U. His remarks were reported in Macau Post Daily.
According to Kuok, the figure represents a year-on-year decline of 3.2 percent and continues the steady decline that Macao has seen in its birth rate since 2016.
Figures from the Statistics and Census Bureau show that the birth rate fell from 11 per 1,000 in 2016 to 8.9 in 2019, then to 5.5 per 1,000 in 2023.
[See more: The government is being urged to boost Macao’s birth rate]
In an effort to boost the figure, the government recently launched a subsidy programme, granting eligible couples partial fee waivers for assisted reproduction technology programmes. Kuok said 221 applications had been so far received for the subsidies.
Macao’s society is rapidly ageing, with the number of residents aged 65 or over surpassing the child population (aged 14 or under) for the first time last year. Senior citizens now represent 14 percent of the population and children account for 13.2 percent.
Professor Tianji Cai, a sociologist at the University of Macau, told Macao News last year that when “the ratio of elderly to producers becomes high” then “a host of economic, social, and related problems occur.”
