Macao’s number of live births decreased in the second quarter of 2025, according to statistics published by Macao’s Statistics and Census Service. A total of 671 infants were born, a 10.5 percent drop compared to the quarter before.
The data continues a trend of declining birth rates in Macao, which the SAR government has been attempting to reverse through incentives such as the childcare allowance launched last month. The allowance provides 18,000 patacas per child per year for up to three years.
In recent years, local authorities have also used media campaigns to encourage people to have children, although slogans such as “bearing and raising children adds to one’s happiness” have proven controversial and sparked a backlash.
[See more: Macao’s ‘ultra-low’ birthrate has been highlighted in a UN report]
Of the children born, 337 were male and 334 were female. Comparing the sex distribution of babies born in the first half of this year with those born in the first half of last year, there was a 20.4 percent drop in the male births and a 13 percent decrease in female births.
Macao’s fertility rate is one of the lowest in the world at 0.68, while the Health Bureau predicted this year that there would be fewer than 3,500 live births – the lowest number since 2004.
Ho Iat Seng, Macao’s former chief executive, previously said that the city’s low birth rate was “beyond the government’s control,” urging local society to encourage more people to have children.
