Is China going down the same path as Japan with its ageing population?
Decline in new births, a shrinking labour force and more people over 65 could drag down economic growth in the long run, researchers warn
China’s demographic picture is starting to look a lot like Japan’s, with new births in decline, a shrinking workforce and an ageing population, according to the latest official data.
While China’s headline growth accelerated to 6.9 per cent in 2017 from 6.7 per cent in 2016, its demographic statistics are less positive.
Despite the nationwide introduction of a two-child policy in 2015, the number of new births fell to 17.23 million last year, from 17.86 million in 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. At the same time, the labour force – defined as those aged between 16 and 59 – shrank by more than 5 million last year.
Meanwhile the proportion of people aged over 65 has continued to rise. This age group accounted for 11.4 per cent of China’s total population at the end of last year, up from 10.8 per cent a year earlier, according to the statistics bureau data. That means China has 158.31 million people aged over 65 – more than the population of Russia.