China's population has gone down for the second consecutive year. In 2023, deaths far exceeded births. Specifically, in 2023, China lost two million inhabitants.
This is the seventh time the population has decreased due to a decline in the number of births, together with a greater mortality rate since the COVID-19 epidemic. Deaths increased from 690,000 to 11.1 million, proof of the aging of the Chinese population.
On the other hand, the number of births has gone down to 540,000 annually, which is a decrease for the third consecutive year. The 9 million babies born in 2023 were less than half of the total from 2016. All figures are estimates based on surveys and do not include the islands of Hong Kong and Macau.
One-child policy
Although the government relaxed its one-child policy in 2015, which had been active since the beginning of the 1980s, it has not been able to reverse this effect of population decline. However, current trends in the Chinese population show that people are getting married later than before or even remaining single.
Added to this, in China's largest urban centers, the educational costs related to having a child are increasing, due to an overly competitive educational system. According to estimates that the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences gave to AP, it is believed that in 2050, 30% of the Chinese population will be 65 years old or older.
With the variations registered in 2023, there is now an estimated population of around 1.4 billion inhabitants, according to data from Chinese government agencies. The new total caused China to fall to second place in the world population ranking. India topped the list of the most populated countries in the world for the first time.
The loss of population in China could have negative effects on its economy, which has been in a phase of stagnation since the middle of the last decade. The Chinese government intends to carry out a process of social conversion. The country is also trying to reverse the low birth rate by implementing policies to encourage couples to have more children by offering subsidies.
