China’s population fell for the third year in a row as the birth rate fell | Demographic News

China’s population continues to decline for the third year in a row due to a declining birth rate and amid economic concerns.

China’s population will decline for the third year in a row in 2024, as the East Asian superpower’s demographic crisis continues to grow.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Friday that China’s population fell by 1.39 million in the past 12 months to 1.408 billion as deaths continued to outnumber births.

China’s population has been in steady decline since the 1980s, but 2022 was the first time there were more deaths than births since 1961 when China was in the midst of the Great Leap Forward, which led to a famine that killed an estimated 20 million people. . of hunger.

Beijing’s recent efforts to curb the falling birth rate have failed to reverse what has been a long-term trend, and the NBS acknowledged that the country faces several challenges.

“We must be aware that the negative effects caused by the external environment are increasing, domestic demands are insufficient, some businesses are having difficulty in production and operation, and the economy is still facing difficulties and challenges,” said the bureau in its report.

Beijing has used a variety of carrots and sticks to increase the birth rate, from calling single women “leftovers” if they remain single to making it harder to get a divorce or an abortion, and offering couples subsidies to support families. rising child care costs.

Marriages increased by 12.4 percent year-on-year in 2023 following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a temporary rebound in births in the first half of 2024 in some parts of the country.

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

China officially ended the “one-child policy” in 2016 that had been aimed at controlling the country’s growth for decades, but ended up with a shrinking population due to the culture’s preference for male children.

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

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

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

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

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are also experiencing population decline for the same reasons as China, including immigration restrictions. China, like much of East Asia, also does not allow unmarried women to access fertility treatments, such as IVF.