Will "Dragon Babies" Fix China's Population Crisis? What Experts Say

People in China are hoping that 2024 could offer some respite from the declining birth rate that has plagued the country for year. The reason: This is the Year of The Dragon, which is thought to be very favourable year to have children. According to a report in Financial Times, parents try to time the births of their offspring with an auspicious zodiac sign. The eagerly awaited year will officially begin on February 10 after a gloomy economic outlook, ageing society and the coronavirus pandemic pushed China's population to a decline for second consecutive year in 2023, as per the outlet.

The national death rate is also accelerating, reaching 7.87 per 1,000 people in 2023, the highest level since the early 1970s, FT said. In 2022, China's fell by 850,000, marking its first decline since a man-made famine 60 years ago.

"The population decline is not just increasing. The decline has more than doubled from the previous year," Wang Feng, an expert on Chinese demographics at the University of California, told the outlet.

Hope are high for the Year of the Dragon as more births are recorded during this time rather than in any other year in the 12-year Chinese calendrical cycle.

In China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, "dragon babies" (those born in the Year of the Dragon) have traditionally been believed to have been imbued with the luck. Experts too have warned that 2024 will be critical for China to revive the growth factors and escape the debt-deflation spiral.

FT attached a graph from China's National Buereau of Statistics in its report that showed a slight bump in the birth rate in Year of the Dragon. However, experts doubt if such superstitions will improve the situation in China.

"In the past there have been higher births in auspicious zodiac years. But given the pessimistic economic outlook and pessimism among young people, I doubt we will see a noticeable rebound this year," said Wang.

Some people are also expressing similar views. Thirty-year-old Dora Gao, who works in Shanghai, said she did not feel confident enough in her financial situation to raise a child. "I don't have enough resources to devote to a child's education. The competition is fierce and there are high costs that come with that," she told FT.

A South China Morning Post (SCMP) report said in 2000, a dragon year, the birth rate in Hong Kong increased by over five per cent. Mainland China saw a rise in births in 2012, a jump of nearly 950,000 when compared to the previous year.

In days before New Year, terms like "dragon babies" or "dragon bb" were among the most searched and trending online in China, said the outlet.