China says population grew last year, refuting Financial Times report of first decline in nearly 60 years

China’s population continued to grow last year, authorities said on Thursday, refuting an earlier media report that suggested it could fall for the first time in nearly 60 years.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a short statement that China’s population kept growing in 2020, and detailed data would be released in the upcoming seventh population census results.

“China’s population continued to grow in 2020, and specific data will be released in the seventh national census communique,” said NBS statement said.

A drop in China’s population would be the first since a two-year decline in 1960-61 due to the impact of the Great Famine. The population fell by around 10 million in 1960 and a further 3.4 million in 1961 before rebounding by 14.4 million in 1962, according to official figures.

Chinese ministries have used the 1.4 billion population figure since 2018.

Even if the total population does not fall immediately, the Chinese government has said in the past that the annual gap between the number of newborns and the number of deaths will shrink significantly to around 1 million people over the next five years.

In its most recent estimate in November last year, the government said it expected China’s population to peak in 2027.

But He Yafu, an independent expert on China’s demographics, expects the population to fall in 2022 as the number of births falls to nearly 10 million and the number of deaths surpasses 10 million.