The number of births in China hit its lowest level since 1961

KEY POINTS

• China on Monday reported that there were 15.23 million births in 2018 — the lowest since 1961 when 11.87 million births were reported, according to data on financial services firm Wind Info.
• That puts the country's population at 1.395 billion in 2018, the Associated Press reported, citing data by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Children holding Chinese national flag play in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.

China Photos | Getty Images

The number of babies born in China in 2018 was the lowest the country has seen in nearly 60 years, according to Chinese financial services firm Wind Information.

China on Monday reported that there were 15.23 million births last year — the lowest since 1961 when 11.87 million births were reported, data on Wind showed.

Last year's birth figure was 11.6 percent lower than 17.23 million in 2017, according to Wind.

The release of China's latest birth data puts the country's population at 1.395 billion in 2018, the Associated Press reported, citing data by the National Bureau of Statistics. That means the population grew 3.81 percent compared to a year earlier, according to the news wire.

AP also reported that the Chinese government estimated that its population will peak in 2029 at 1.442 billion, and then start to decline in the year after that.

— CNBC's Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.