China population: 2022 marks first decline in 60 years

Name: China reports first population decline in 6 decades, with birth rate at record low in 2022
Uploaded: 2023-01-17T02:00:46.000Z
Duration: 3 min 18 s
Description: China reports first population decline in 6 decades, with birth rate at record low in 2022

Mainland China’s overall population fell to 1.4118 billion last year, as the growth rate hit negative 0.6 per thousand people

Official results show how China’s demographic crisis continues to deepen, while illustrating how widespread shifts to pronatalist policies are not producing the desired results

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

99+

03:18

China reports first population decline in 6 decades, with birth rate at record low in 2022

Luna Sunin Beijing

Published: 10:00am, 17 Jan 2023Updated: 9:45am, 20 Jan 2023

China’s population has declined for the first time in six decades, with the national birth rate for 2022 falling to a record low and the nation’s deepening demographic crisis threatening far-reaching implications for economic growth.

Deaths outnumbered births in China as its overall population plummeted by 850,000 people – to 1.4118 billion in 2022, down from 1.4126 billion a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.

Mothers in China had 9.56 million babies last year, a 9.98 per cent drop from 10.62 million in 2021.

The national birth rate fell to a record low of 6.77 births for every 1,000 people in 2022, down from 7.52 in 2021, marking the lowest rate since records began in 1949.

The national death rate was 7.37 per thousand last year, putting the national growth rate at negative 0.6 per thousand people.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x