Population of China: China’s population decreased for the first time in 60 years, the number of deaths in 2022 is more than births, what does this mean for the world?

According to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the world’s most populous country China has seen a historic decline in its population. Its birth rate has registered a decline for the first time in more than 60 years. The Bureau of Statistics said that China’s population (excluding foreigners) is expected to decline by 850,000 people in 2022 to 1.41 billion. The country has projected 9.56 million births and 10.41 million deaths for 2022, reports CNBC.

The population of mainland China (excluding foreigners) was set to increase by 480,000 to 1.41 billion at the end of 2021, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that there is a 13% decline in new births in 2021 and a 22% decline in 2020. Meanwhile, the country’s health authorities revealed that nearly 60,000 people died of COVID-19 in Chinese hospitals between December 8, 2022, and January 12, 2023.

What does this mean for the world?

The declining population may be a sign of a demographic crisis in China. The New York Times reported that last year, for the first time in six decades, the number of deaths exceeded births. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed 9.56 million births in China in 2022, while 10.41 million people died. It was the first time that deaths exceeded births in China since the early 1960s, when Mao Zedong’s failed economic experiment, the Great Leap Forward, led to widespread famine and death. That, along with a long-running increase in life expectancy, is pushing China into a demographic crisis that will have consequences this century, experts told The New York Times, not only for China and its economy, but for the world.