Beijing: World’s most populous country China recorded a trend of decline in its population last year, for the first time since 1961 according to data revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The trend further strengthens the prediction of India, currently World’s second most populous nation likely to overtake China and take the top spot by the end of this year.
According to the data released by NBS, China recorded a decline in population, roughly, by 850,000 to 1.41175 billion at the end of 2022.
The report further added that China’s birth rate recorded in 2022 stands at 6.77 births per 1,000 people as compared to 7.52 births in 2021.
According to a Reuters report, China’s online search engine Baidu recorded a decline in search for baby strollers by 17% in 2022 from 41% in 2018.
This is considered to be the worst hit since 1960 when China was gripped with famine caused by the agricultural policy Great Leap Forward.
Earlier, the United Nations predicted that China’s population will shrink by 109 million by the year 2050, triple the decline forecasted in 2019.
The report further added that the reason behind the decline in population is China’s ‘One-Child Policy’ imposed between 1980 and 2015 along with high cost of living and education in the country.
However, Kang Yi, head of National Statistics Bureau added that people should not worry about the decline in population as “overall labour supply still exceeds demand.”
(With Agency Inputs)
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