China's population shrank last year for the first time in more than six decades, official data showed Tuesday, as the world's most populous country...
The mainland Chinese population stood at around 1,411,750,000 at the end of 2022, the country's National Bureau of Statistics reportedBEIJING - China's population shrank last year for the first time in more than six decades, official data showed Tuesday, as the world's most populous country faces a looming demographic crisis.
The number of births was 9.56 million, the NBS said, while the number of deaths stood at 10.41 million. But that has failed to reverse the demographic decline for a country that has long relied on its vast workforce as a driver of economic growth. "Economic growth will have to depend more on productivity growth, which is driven by government policies."News of the population decline quickly trended on China's heavily censored internet, with some expressing fears for the country's future.
But others pointed to the soaring cost of living and the difficulties of raising children in modern China."No one reflects on why we do not want to have and do not want to get married," another said.The southern megacity of Shenzhen, for example, now offers a birth bonus and pays allowances until the child is three years old.
Chinese people are"getting used to the small family because of the decades-long one-child policy", Xiujian Peng, a researcher at Australia's University of Victoria, told AFP.
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China population shrinks for first time in over 60 yearsThe nation of 1.4 billion has seen birth rates plunge to record lows as its workforce ages, in a rapid decline that analysts warn could stymie economic growth and pile pressure on strained public coffers.
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