Fertility Level and Changes Shaanxi is one of the provinces with a high rate of population increase. Since the 1970s, the TFR declined rapidly due to family planning. According to population projections under three scenarios, high, medium and low, the total population of Shaanxi will still increase early in the next century. It will become a zero-increase population at about 2035, and thereafter decrease. With the development of the economy, culture and public health, the mortality rate of Shaanxi declined quickly, especially the infant mortality rate.
Female mortality is lower than that of males.
Urban mortality declined more rapidly than that of rural areas. In 1958, the life expectancy of Shaanxi was 53 years, and it rose to 67.9 for males and 72.21 for females in 1990, according to the fourth national census. Early marriage and having more children are more popular in rural than in urban areas. Rural males face more difficulties in getting married. The average family size in Shaanxi was above the national level.