China’s population fell in 2024 for third year in a row
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Recent efforts by China to curb declining birthrate have not succeeded in reversing trend. China’s population fell for the third consecutive year in 2024, authorities reported on Friday. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said China’s population declined by 1.39 million in 2024, reaching 1.408 billion, as deaths continued to surpass births.
Data released earlier in January 2024 had shown a 2.08 million decline in 2023, bringing the population to 1.409 billion. This decline was double the previous year’s, which marked the first population drop in 60 years in China. Recent efforts by China to curb the declining birthrate have not succeeded in reversing the long-term trend, with the NBS acknowledging that the country is facing several challenges.
In its report released on Friday, the bureau said: “We must be aware that the adverse effects brought by the external environment are increasing, the domestic demands are insufficient, some enterprises have difficulties in production and operation, and the economy is still facing difficulties and challenges.”.
The statistics bureau reported that China recorded 9.54 million births in 2024, up from 9.02 million in 2023. The birth rate increased to 6.77 births per 1,000 people in 2024, compared to 6.39 per 1,000 people in 2023. In 2023, marriages increased by 12.4 per cent compared to the previous year, following the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. This led to a short-lived rise in births in certain areas during the first half of 2024.
