China on Tuesday announced a population decline for the first time in recent years, as the country sees an aging society and a falling birthrate, with more than 850,000 fewer people at the end of 2022.
According to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the country will have 850,000 fewer people at the end of 2022 than the previous year. It counts the population of mainland China only, excluding Hong Kong, Macao and the self-governing Taiwan, as well as foreign residents.
The bureau said in a briefing that the total stood at 1.411.75 billion with 9.56 million births against 10.41 million deaths. The report also states that males outnumber females by 722.06 million to 689.69 million, a result of the now-abandoned one-child policy and a traditional preference for male offspring to carry on the family name.
China has long been the world’s most populous country but it is expected to be overtaken by India soon.
The last time China is believed to have experienced a population decline was during the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s, when Mao Zedong’s disastrous campaign for mass farming and industrialization caused a massive famine that killed millions. Had gone.
(with inputs from AP)
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