China’s population has shrunk for the first time in six decades, according to government data released on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The population of mainland China reached 1,411.75 million in 2022, as per figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics, marking a
decrease of 850,000 people from the previous year.<\/p>\n
China has also recorded a significant fall in birthrate – 6.77 per 1,000 people in 2022, down from 7.52 in 2021. This is the lowest birthrate since 1949, and less than half the birthrate of India’s 16.42 per 1000.<\/p>\n
China’s death rate outnumbering births for the first time last year also contributed to fall in population. China is one of the worst-affected countries in terms of deaths due to Covid infections, which broke out there in late 2019.<\/p>\n
China had introduced the “one-child policy” in 1979 to curtail its population growth. It has resulted in the world’s most populous country’s population growing at its slowest pace in decades.<\/p>\n
This data does not include the population figures of external Chinese territories of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao.<\/p>\n
With this, India is poised to overtake China as the world’s most populous country. <\/p>\n
According to estimate by the United Nations, India has a population of 1,412 million in 2022. The country has not conducted a national census for more than a decade.<\/p>\n
The latest picture of China’s population was announced during a Tuesday briefing on annual economic data.<\/p>\n
Its 2022 economic growth is recorded as one of the weakest in decades. <\/p>\n