Population in China has fallen for the first time in 60 years as the national birth rate hits a record low of 6.77 births per 1,000 people.
The country’s population in 2022, 1.4118 billion, fell by 850,000 from 2021.
Sven years after scrapping the one-child policy, the country has entered what one official described as an “era of negative population growth”.
The birth rate in 2022 was also down from 7.52 in 2021, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, which released the figures on Tuesday.
Deaths also outnumbered births for the first time last year as China logged its highest death rate since 1976 – 7.37 deaths per 1,000 people, up from 7.18 the previous year.
Results from a once-a-decade census announced in 2021 showed China’s population growing at its slowest pace in decades.
Principal economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, Yue Su, says “this trend is going to continue and perhaps worsen after Covid,” as she is among experts who expect China’s population to shrink further through 2023.
“The high youth unemployment rate and weaknesses in income expectations could delay marriage and childbirth plans further, dragging down the number of newborns,” she added.
She also said the death rate in 2023 is likely to be higher than what it was pre-pandemic due to Covid infections