{"id":27394,"date":"2024-01-18T16:45:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T16:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2"},"modified":"2024-01-18T16:46:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T16:46:05","slug":"china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2","title":{"rendered":"China records population decline for second straight year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. <\/strong><\/span>China\u2019s population has declined for a second consecutive year, underscoring concerns about the future growth of the world\u2019s second-largest economy.<\/p>\n

Data released on Wednesday showed a population of 1.409 billion by the end of 2023 \u2013 a 2.08m decrease from 2022.<\/p>\n

The most recent decline is double that of the previous year, which marked the first population drop in 60 years.<\/p>\n

But experts say this fall is expected given the country\u2019s expanding urban class and record-low birth rate.<\/p>\n

China is following the pattern of other countries that have rapidly deindustrialised, experts say, although the pace of change has been quick.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a surprise. They\u2019ve got one of the lowest fertility rates in the world so this is just what happens \u2013 the population stops growing and starts to decline,\u201d said Prof Stuart Gietel-Basten, a population policy expert at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of locked in now… this is just the next year in this new era of population stagnation or decline for China.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beijing on Wednesday said the birth rate was now down to 6.39 per 1,000 people on par with other advanced East Asian nations such as Japan and South Korea.<\/p>\n

The country has seen falling birth rates for decades \u2013 after imposing in the 1980s a controversial one child-policy to control over-population at the time.<\/p>\n

The government lifted the policy in 2015 to try and stem the population fall, and has brought in a series of other incentives too such as subsidies and payments to encourage people to start families. In 2021, it further relaxed the limit to allow couples to have up to three children.<\/p>\n

However, the policies have borne little impact with young people in modern cities citing deterrents like the cost of living and career priorities after a three-year Covid period.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband and I do want to have a kid but we can\u2019t afford it for now,\u201d said Wang Chengyi, a 31-year-old woman in Beijing.<\/p>\n

She told the BBC she and her partner needed to save money for another three years to provide for the costs of having a child \u2013 taking into account school expenses in particular.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do want to get pregnant while I\u2019m young as it\u2019s better for my health. However, I just don\u2019t have enough money for now so I have to postpone. It\u2019s a shame and I feel panic over it sometimes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Experts on Wednesday cited the impact of the pandemic in accelerating the decline in new births. However, they suggested that the underlying economic issues were a greater factor.<\/p>\n

Chinese internet users also flagged cost pressures on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you let people live more easily, with more security, of course there will be more people wanting kids,\u201d one user wrote in a top-liked comment on Weibo.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s economic woes came to the forefront in 2023, with the country battling a widespread property crisis, falling consumer spending and record youth joblessness in the aftermath of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Annual data on Wednesday confirmed the struggles \u2013 showing the economy had grown at one of its slowest rates in more than three decades \u2013 with GDP expanding at 5.2% to hit 126 trillion yuan ($17.5tn; \u00a313.8tn) in 2023.<\/p>\n

This marked the weakest performance since 1990 \u2013 excluding the pandemic years \u2013 which saw a record-low 3% GDP growth rate in 2022.<\/p>\n

China also reported on Wednesday that the youth unemployment rate for December was at 14.1% \u2013 after hitting 21.3% in June, after which China temporarily suspended releasing the figure.<\/p>\n

The latest population data is likely to reinforce some fears about the economy \u2013 with China having long relied on a now ageing workforce as a key driver of its economy.<\/p>\n

The country is facing increased pressure on its healthcare and pension systems as its retiree population grows \u2013 projected to increase 60% to 400 million by 2035.<\/p>\n

But experts say the country has time and resources to manage the transition in its workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina is no different to other countries that have deindustrialised and moved into the service sector. The population becomes more educated and skilled and healthier, and they want to do other jobs rather than work in factories or construction,\u201d said Prof Gietel-Basten.<\/p>\n

The government is aware of this and has planned for this over the past decade and so it\u2019s expected to continue with this kind of direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the world\u2019s most populous nation, China was overtaken by India last year according to the UN. India\u2019s population stands at 1.425bn.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Sierra-Leone<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. China\u2019s population has declined for a second consecutive year, underscoring concerns about the future growth of the world\u2019s second-largest economy. Data released on Wednesday showed a population of 1.409 billion by the end of 2023 \u2013 a 2.08m decrease from 2022. The most recent decline is double that of the previous year, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":27393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[291,293,292],"class_list":["post-27394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-sierra-leone","tag-sierra-leone"],"yoast_head":"\nChina records population decline for second straight year - Sierra Leone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"China\u2019s population has declined for a second consecutive year, underscoring concerns about the future growth of the worl ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China records population decline for second straight year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"China\u2019s population has declined for a second consecutive year, underscoring concerns about the future growth of the worl ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sierra Leone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-18T16:45:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-18T16:46:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1705583720.21645.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"596\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"China records population decline for second straight year\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-18T16:45:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-18T16:46:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2\"},\"wordCount\":756,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1705583720.21645.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Sierra-Leone\",\"Sierra-Leone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/china-records-population-decline-for-second-straight-year-2\",\"name\":\"China records population decline for second straight year - 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