China’s Population Drops Amid Record Low Birth Rate

January 17, 2024 China, Politics

China’s population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023, as a record low birth rate and a wave of COVID-19 deaths when strict lockdowns ended accelerated a downturn that will have profound long-term effects on the economy’s growth potential.

The National Bureau of Statistics said the total number of people in China dropped by 2.08 million, or 0.15%, to 1.409 billion in 2023. That was well above the population decline of 850,000 in 2022, which had been the first since 1961 during the Great Famine of the Mao Zedong era.

The country’s retirement-age population, aged 60 and over, is expected to increase to more than 400 million by 2035 – more than the entire population of the United States – from about 280 million people currently. The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences sees the pension system running out of money by 2035.

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The National Bureau of Statistics said the total number of people in #China dropped by 2.08 million to 1.409 billion in 2023#birthrate #Population https://t.co/1hRgmVBfHg

— The Telegraph (@ttindia) January 17, 2024