The population of China falls for the third year in a row as the birth rate decreases Demographic news

China’s population continues to decline for the third consecutive year due to declining birthrates and amid concerns about the economy.

The population of China it fell for the third consecutive year in 2024, as a demographic crisis continues to press upon the superpower of East Asia.

The National Statistics Office (NBS) said on Friday that the The Chinese population fell from 1.39 million in the last 12 months to 1.408 billion, as deaths continue to exceed births.

China’s population has been in steady decline since the 1980s, but the year 2022 marked the first time deaths outnumbered births since 1961 when China was in the midst of the disastrous Great Leap Forward. , which led to a famine in which about 20 million people died. of hunger

Beijing’s recent efforts to slow the falling birthrate have failed to slow what is a long-term trend, and the NBS acknowledged that the country faces many challenges.

“We must be aware that the adverse effects brought about by the external environment are increasing, domestic demands are insufficient, some companies have difficulties in production and operation, and the economy is still facing difficulties and challenges,” he said. the bureau in its report.

Beijing has employed a variety of carrot and stick approaches to increase the birth rate, from labeling single women as “leftovers” if they are not married to making it more difficult to obtain a divorce or an abortion, and also offers couple subsidies to support the rising cost of childcare.

Marriages increased by 12.4 percent annually in 2023 after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a brief recovery in births in the first half of 2024 in some parts of the country.

Last year was also the auspicious Year of the Dragon in China, which typically leads to a small baby boom across Asia, but experts say the overall trend is down.

China formally ended its “one-child policy” in 2016 that for decades tried to control the country’s growth, but ended up with an unbalanced population due to a cultural preference for male children.

Families are now allowed to have three children from 2021, but the rising cost of living in urban areas, a slowing economy, and a high youth unemployment rate have made raising children a prospect less attractive to many young Chinese.

China’s economy grew by 5 percent in 2024, beating government forecasts, but gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to continue to slow in the coming years.

Faced with a demographic crisis, Beijing has implemented new measures to gradually increase the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 63 for men, from 55 to 58 for women in managerial and technical positions, and 55 for all l other workers.

China is not the only country in East Asia facing a demographic crisis.

Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have also experienced population declines for similar reasons to China, including immigration restrictions. China, like most of East Asia, does not even allow unmarried women access to fertility treatments, such as IVF.