CHina’s population fell last year for the third year in a row, its government said on Friday, pointing to other demographic challenges for the world’s second most populous country, which is now facing an aging population and a shortage of working-age people.
China’s population stood at 1.408 million by the end of 2024, a decrease of 1.39 million from the previous year.
The figures announced by the government in Beijing follow trends around the world, but especially in East Asia, where Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and other countries have seen their levels drop. China three years ago joined Japan and most of Eastern Europe among other nations in declining numbers.
The reasons are the same in many cases: The rising cost of living causes young people to postpone or postpone marriage and childbearing while pursuing higher education and careers. Although people are living longer, that is not enough to keep up with the new birth rate.
Read more: China Eager to Boost Its Low Birth Rates. It May Have to Adopt a New Standard
Countries like China allow very few people to immigrate to other countries that are at high risk.
China has long been among the world’s most populous nations, enduring invasions, floods and other natural disasters to maintain a population that eats rice in the south and wheat in the north. After the end of World War II and the coming to power of the Communist Party in 1949, large families reappeared and the population doubled in just three decades, even after tens of millions died in the Great Leap Forward that sought to reform agriculture and industry and the youth. the Cultural Revolution that followed a few years later.
After the end of the Cultural Revolution and the death of leader Mao Zedong, Communist officials became concerned that the country’s population was outgrowing its ability to support itself and began implementing a brutal “one-child policy.” Although it was not the law, women had to apply for permission to have a child and violators could face forced late-term abortions and birth control procedures, heavy fines and the possibility of having their child’s ID number revoked, rendering them non-citizens. .
Rural China, where masculinity was very strong and two children were still clearly allowed, became the basis of the government’s efforts, where women were forced to prove that they were pregnant and buildings with slogans such as “have fewer children, be better.” children.”
The government tried to end special abortions for female children, but with abortions legal and readily available, those using illegal sonogram machines enjoyed a booming business.
That has been the biggest factor in China’s skewed sex ratio, with millions of boys born for every 100 girls, increasing the chances of social instability among China’s army of bachelors. Friday’s report gave the inequality of sex as 104.34 men for 100 women, although independent groups give the inequality much higher.
Most troubling for the government was the steeply declining birth rate, with China’s population falling for the first time in decades by 2023 and China overtaking India as the world’s most populous country in the same year. A rapidly growing population, shrinking workforce, lack of consumer markets and immigration are putting the system under great pressure.
While spending on military infrastructure and luxury programs continues to rise, China’s already fragile social security system is faltering, with growing numbers of Chinese refusing to pay into an underfunded pension system.
Already, more than one fifth of the population is 60 years or older, and the official figure is given as 310.3 million or 22% of the total population. In 2035, this number is predicted to exceed 30%, which raises the discussion of changes in the official retirement age, which is the lowest in the world. With fewer students, some vacant schools and kindergartens are currently being converted into care centers for the elderly.
Read more: China Unveils Comprehensive ‘Silver’ Economic Plan to Adapt to Population Aging
Such developments provide evidence that China, now the world’s second largest economy but facing major headwinds, will “get old before it gets rich.”
Government compensation including allowances for having up to three children and financial assistance with housing costs have had only short-term effects.
Meanwhile, China has continued to transition to an urban society, with more than 10 million people moving to cities with an urbanization rate of 67%, up nearly a percentage point from the previous year.
Source link
