China now has more university students than preschoolers
Children enrolled in preschool vs students in undergraduate and college programmes, China, millions, 2021–2025.
- 1. The world has already passed peak child
- 2. Japan's median age is more than three times Niger's
- 3. South Korea now has a quarter of its 1971 births
- 4. China's population is projected to more than halve by 2100
- 5. Japan now has over 100,000 centenarians, up from 153
- 6. Japan has 9 million empty homes: one in seven
- 7. One in ten in Japan will be foreign by 2070
- 8. Japan's foreign residents have doubled since 2012, passing 4 million
- 9. Jakarta, not Tokyo, is the world's largest city
- 10. Two in three newly licensed UK doctors qualified abroad
- 11. Iran dropped from top refugee host to fifth in 2025
- 12. More Christians live in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else
- 13. Two in three people live where fertility is below replacement
- 14. Japan's births fell below half their 1899 level
- 15. Brazil now has more people over 65 than Germany
- 16. Egypt has more asylum seekers than Germany, Spain and Italy
- 17. 34 countries and territories are past their population peak
- 18. Chile's fertility rate fell below Italy's and Japan's
- 19. Nigeria now has almost 25 million more people than Brazil
- 20. Thailand's births have fallen below its deaths
- 21. Women hold at least half the seats in seven parliaments
- 22. Child marriage in South Asia has nearly halved since 2005
- 23. Six in ten child deaths now happen in sub-Saharan Africa
- 24. Argentina's teen birth rate fell 60% in ten years
- 25. Chad rose from 15th to 6th among refugee hosts
- 26. Sri Lanka's population has shrunk three years in a row
- 27. Bangladesh's births per woman have fallen by two-thirds since 1970
- 28. Türkiye overtook France in hosting foreign students
- 29. Uzbekistan's university enrolment rose from 8% to 57%
- 30. Japan rose from ninth to second as Vietnamese emigrants' home
- 31. South Korea turned from student sender into student host
- 32. China now has more university students than preschoolers
Children in China's preschools in 2025, down a third from 48.1 m in 2021.
The year preschoolers fell below university students. By 2025 students led 39.5 m to 32.3 m.
Births in 2025, down from 10.6 m in 2021: the shrinking cohorts reach primary school next.
the numbers & method
| Year | Preschool children (m) | University students (m) |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.1 | 35.0 |
| 2022 | 46.3 | 36.6 |
| 2023 | 40.9 | 37.8 |
| 2024 | 35.8 | 38.9 |
| 2025 | 32.3 | 39.5 |
Claim types Fact · Interpretation
NBS annual statistical communiqués (published each February for the year before), section on education. Preschool = 学前教育在园幼儿 (children enrolled in preschool education). University = 普通、职业本专科在校生 (students enrolled in regular and vocational undergraduate and junior-college (higher vocational) programmes; postgraduates, about 4 m, are not included, which would only widen the gap). Values, millions: preschool 48.052 (2021), 46.275 (2022), 40.930 (2023), 35.840 (2024), 32.255 (2025); university 34.961, 36.594, 37.750, 38.913, 39.540. Births (出生人口): 10.62 m (2021), 9.56 m (2022), 9.02 m (2023), 9.54 m (2024), 7.92 m (2025). Communiqués: 2025 https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfbhjd/202602/t20260228_1962662.html; 2024 https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202502/t20250228_1958817.html; 2023 https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202402/t20240228_1947915.html; 2022 https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202302/t20230228_1919011.html; 2021 https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202302/t20230203_1901393.html. The two groups cover different age spans (about 3–5 vs 18–22). The fall of 32.9% (48.052 to 32.255) is a progrss calculation. Takeaway 3's second clause is Interpretation. University enrolment also rose over the period, so the crossing reflects both fewer young children and more students. Chart values rounded to one decimal.
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