BEIJING, China
\nChina\u2019s population has decreased for the first time in more than 60 years, official data shows \u2014 a historic turn for the world\u2019s most populous nation that is now expected to see a long period of population decline.
\nThe 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\u2019s strained public finances.
\nThe mainland Chinese population stood at approximately 1,411,750,000 at the end of 2022, Beijing\u2019s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Tuesday, a decrease of 850,000 from the end of the previous year.
\nThe number of births was 9.56 million, the NBS said, 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.
\nThe new figures mark the first fall in China\u2019s population since 1961, when the country battled the worst famine in its modern history, caused by Mao Zedong\u2019s disastrous agricultural policy known as the Great Leap Forward.
\nChina has long been the world\u2019s most populous nation, but is expected to soon be overtaken by India, if it has not already.
\nEstimates put India\u2019s population at more than 1.4 billion.
\nThe head of the NBS, Kang Yi, said people should not worry about China\u2019s population decline as the country\u2019s overall labour supply still exceeds demand.
\nThough China ended its strict \u201cone-child policy\u201d in 2016 and in 2021 allowed couples to have three children, the policy change has not reversed the demographic decline.
\nIn the long term, United Nations experts believe, China\u2019s population could reduce by 109 million by the year 2050, more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING, China China\u2019s population has decreased for the first time in more than 60 years, official data shows \u2014 a historic turn for the world\u2019s most populous nation that is now expected to see a long period of population decline. The country of 1.4 billion has seen birth rates plunge to record lows as its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-308077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n