China's population declines for second straight year
China's population declined for the second straight year in 2023, as the birth rate slowed in the face of rising economic pressures and changing social norms, according to official data recently released.
The National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing reported, quoted by AFP, a population of 1.409 billion people at the end of 2023, a decrease of about two million from the end of 2022.
In 2022, China recorded its first population decline in the last six decades and lost the title of "world's most populous country" to India, according to the United Nations.
The Chinese government is trying to curb the decline by providing family allowances, which remain modest, launching an intense public awareness campaign in favour of childbirth, or allowing couples to have three children.
"At the end of 2023, the national population was 1.40967 billion people," a "decrease of 2.08 million from that of the end of 2022," the National Bureau of Statistics said.
The figure includes only Chinese nationals living in mainland China, excluding residents of the semi-autonomous Chinese territories of Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan (the 23 million-inhabitant island claimed by Beijing).
Last year's decline was more than double that of 2022, when the country lost 850,000 people.
The demographic decline can be explained by a number of factors, such as the high cost of education, a lack of confidence in the economic future, and growing distrust of the institution of marriage.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
