China's Population Declines for Two Consecutive Years: What are the Causes?

Demographics

Premium

Cindy Mutia Annur 18/01/2024 13:45 WIB

URL has been copied

Memuat...

China's population has declined for two consecutive years, 2022 and 2023. This is due to a decrease in birth rates and an increase in death rates.

A Small Font
A Medium Font
A Bigger Font

You are accessing content Single Data Premium.
To continue, please subscribe or buy individually.

Professional

Enjoy premium access with a more affordable price.

Start from

~~Rp300.000~~ 150.000/month

Access more premium content and exclusive features for customers.

Start from

50.000/month

Hanya Rp833 per artikel

More details »

Buy Retail

Read the article immediately “China's Population Declines for Two Consecutive Years: What are the Causes?”.

Rp10.000

We accept the following payments:

Some payment methods are still in the process of being activated.

China's Population (1960-2023*)

Download

Source

A Small Font
A Medium Font
A Bigger Font

China's population has declined for two consecutive years, driven by low birth rates.

Quoting Reuters, China's population decreased by 850,000 in 2022 compared to the previous year. This marks the first population decline since the 1961 famine during the Mao Zedong era.

Then, on Wednesday (January 17, 2024), China's National Bureau of Statistics reported a further decrease of 2.08 million in 2023, bringing the total population to 1.409 billion.

According to Reuters, the decline is partly attributed to Covid-19 deaths.

At the end of 2022, the Chinese government lifted its social restriction policies. In 2023, total Covid-19 deaths in China increased by 6.6% to 11.1 million.

Concurrently, the birth rate in China fell by 5.7% to 9.02 million in 2023.

The birth rate reached a record low of 6.39 births per 1,000 people in 2023, down from 6.77 in 2022.

Several factors contribute to the declining birth rate, including urbanization trends.

Reuters notes that many Chinese citizens have moved from rural areas to cities, facing higher living costs. As a result, many working-age people are delaying or forgoing having children.

Furthermore, youth unemployment in China reached a record high in 2023, and office workers' wages decreased, leading many to be hesitant to have children.

"As we have observed repeatedly in countries with low fertility rates, declines in births are often very difficult to reverse," said University of Michigan demographer Zhou Yun, as reported by Reuters.

Editor : Adi Ahdiat

"Disclosure: This is an AI-generated translation of the original article. We strive for accuracy, but please note that automated translations may contain errors or slight inconsistencies."