Such an extreme drop in birthrates is unprecedented in the 71 years beating out even declines during the Syrian civil war and the genocide in Rwanda, researchers stated.

East Turkistan called by Uyghurs and Xinjiang by Chinese in far western part of the country had the sharpest known decline in birthrates between 2017 and 2019 of any territory in recent history, according to a new analysis by an Australian think tank.

The report from the Australian Strategy Policy Institute, showed the 48.74 per cent decline was concentrated in areas with many Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other largely Muslim ethnic minorities, based on Chinese government statistics over nearly a decade.

Birthrates in largely minority counties fell 43.7 per cent between 2017 and 2018 alone, with over 160,000 fewer babies born. That compares to a slight increase in births in counties populated mostly by China’s Han majority.

Such an extreme drop in birthrates is unprecedented in the 71 years since the United Nations began collecting global fertility statistics, beating out even declines during the Syrian civil war and the genocides in Rwanda and Cambodia, said Mr. Nathan Ruser, an ASPI researcher and co-author of the report.

As far as it’s possible to find out, it is by far the largest drop there is, Mr. Ruser stated. It makes you realize the scale of these family planning policies and the scale of this crackdown, the scale of societal control that authorities are looking for, he added.

The ASPI report corroborates an AP story and a report by German researcher Mr. Adrian Zenz last year that found the Communist China's government was systemically slashing Uyghur birthrates with sterilizations, abortions and intrauterine devices, and fining and detaining people with three or more children.