Official data has indicated that China’s population has decreased for the first time in more than 60 years, a historic turn for the most populous country in the world, which now anticipates a long period of population decline.
The country of 1.4 billion has seen birth rates plunge to record lows as its workforce ages, a drop that analysts warn could stymie economic growth and pile pressure on the country’s strained public finances.
According to a study released on Tuesday by Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the population of mainland China was roughly 1,411,750,000 at the end of 2022, down 850,000 from the end of the previous year.
The NBS reported that the number of births was 9.56 million, while the number of deaths stood at 10.41 million. Men also continued to outnumber women in China by 722.06 million to 689.69 million.
The latest figures mark the country’s first population decline since 1961, when the country battled the worst famine in its modern history, caused by Mao Zedong’s disastrous agricultural policy known as the Great Leap Forward.
China has held the title of most populated country in the world for a while, but if it hasn’t already, India is predicted to overtake it shortly.
India’s population is estimated to be above 1.4 billion.
People shouldn’t be concerned about China’s population drop, according to Kang Yi, the head of the NBS, saying that the country’s overall labour supply still exceeds demand.
Though China relaxed its rigorous “one-child policy” in 2016 and permitted couples to have three children starting in 2021, the demographic decline has not been stopped by the policy adjustment.
According to United Nations analysts, China’s population may reduce by 109 million by the year 2050, which is more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019.