China's population shrinks for first time in six decades

The population of China, the world's most populous country, declined by about 850,000 people in 2022. It is the first time such a decline has been recorded in the country since 1961, according to official data released Tuesday by the country's National Bureau of Statistics.

Specifically, the Chinese government reported that 9.56 million people were born in China last year, while 10.41 million died. The nation closed the year with a total population of 1,411.75 million compared to 1,412.6 million at the end of 2021. Births fell from 10.62 million in 2021 to 9.56 million in 2022, and deaths increased from 10.14 million to 10.41 million.

Aging and demographic crisis

The data revealed that China has an aging population. The percentage of people of working age (16 to 59 years old) fell from 62.5% of the total population to 62%, while the number of people aged 60 and over rose from 18.9% to 19.8%.

Since 2021, the Chinese communist regime has allowed its citizens to have a third child after decades of imposing a one-child policy, which was later extended to two children. However, the data reflect that this shift in birth rate policies did not prevent China from heading towards what some analysts consider to be a demographic crisis with "irreversible" consequences for the Asian country and the rest of the world.

In this regard, the United Nations estimates that India, with a current population of 1.38 billion, will overtake China this year to become the most populous country on Earth.

China covering up COVID deaths

The figures provided by the Chinese regime on its population in 2022 are not complete, since the assessment was carried out in November and does not reflect the increase in mortality in recent weeks as a result of new outbreaks of coronavirus.

China recognized just 60,000 COVID-related deaths between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12. According to several independent agencies, these figures would be much higher and may have exceeded 100,000 only in the last month of 2022, which is not included in the Chinese government's population statistics.

In early December, China ended its zero-COVID policy after three years. Until that time, it recorded slightly more than 5,000 deaths, a figure that contrasted with the image in the rest of the world of hospitals and morgues completely overrun.