China’s population faces ‘endless period of decline’, with demographic shift far from finished
- As deaths outnumber births for the first time since 1961, population experts say reversing the trend is hopeless, but all-out efforts must still be taken
- Desperate times could force China to adopt a ‘tone-setting’ shift by completely scrapping its family-planning policies, which experts say would help mitigate the shrinkage
02:14
Chinese reluctant to have children as China reports first population fall in 61 years
China’s population decline is irreversible, and believing otherwise is futile, demographers warned on Tuesday as the world’s long-time most populous nation announced that it shrank last year for the first time in six decades.
Nonetheless, they say the urgency of the situation shows that more must be done to stem the tide, including ramped-up efforts to boost the birth rate.
“It’s unquestionable that China will not see population growth from now on, as an endless period of population decline began in 2022,” independent demographer He Yafu said. “There’s no hope that the decline can be reversed.”
Setting off renewed debate and concerns over the potential implications on economic growth, the National Bureau of Statistics confirmed on Tuesday that China’s overall population dropped by 850,000 people to 1.4118 billion in 2022, down from 1.4126 billion a year earlier.
03:18
China reports first population decline in 6 decades, with birth rate at record low in 2022
