China’s population drops further in 2023, Photo: Video's screen grab/Reuters
China's population plummeted again in 2023 which made it the second consecutive year such would be recorded, official data showed on Wednesday.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the total number of people in China dropped by 2.08 million, or 0.15%, to 1.409 billion in 2023.
The record showed that the latest population decline in China was well over that of 2020 in which 850,000 was recorded. And this had been the first since 1961 during the Great Famine of the Mao Zedong era, the data showed.
The report said that the total deaths last year rose 6.6% to 11.1 million, with the death rate reaching the highest level since 1974 during the Cultural Revolution.
Also, the new births fell 5.7% to 9.02 million and the birth rate was a record low 6.39 births per 1,000 people, down from a rate of 6.77 births in 2022.
Births in the country have been plummeting for decades as a result of the one-child policy implemented from 1980 to 2015 and its rapid urbanisation during that period. As with earlier economic booms in Japan and South Korea, large populations moved from China's rural farms into cities, where having children is more expensive.
Additionally, increasing low appetite for baby-making in China in 2023, youth unemployment hit record highs, wages for many white-collar workers fell, and a crisis in the property sector, where more than two-thirds of household wealth is stored, intensified, record showed.
Last year, the United Nations estimated India as the world's most populous nation, exceeding China.
Long-term, U.N. experts see China's population shrinking by 109 million by 2050, more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019.
China's population aged 60 over reached 296.97 million in 2023, about 21.1% of its total population, up from 280.04 million in 2022.
China's 2023 rate of 7.87 deaths per 1,000 people was higher than the rate of 7.37 deaths in 2022.
The country's retirement-age population, aged 60 and over, is expected to increase to more than 400 million by 2035 - more than the entire population of the United States - from about 280 million people currently.
The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences sees the pension system running out of money by 2035.
中國人口連續兩年下降 出生率創歷史新低
週三官方數據顯示，2023年中國人口再次大幅下降，已是連續第二年人口下降。
根據國家統計局數據，2023年我國總人口為14.09億，減少208萬人，下降0.15%。
記錄顯示，中國最新的人口下降幅度遠超過2020年的85萬人。 數據顯示，這是1961年毛澤東時代大饑荒以來的第一次。
報告稱，去年死亡總人數上升6.6%，達到1,110萬人，死亡率達到1974年文革期間以來的最高水準。
此外，新生兒數下降 5.7%，至 902 萬人，出生率創歷史新低，為每千人 6.39 人，低於 2022 年的每千人 6.77 人。
由於1980年至2015年實施的獨生子女政策以及該時期快速的城市化進程，中國的出生率幾十年來一直直線下降。 與日本和韓國早期的經濟繁榮一樣，大量人口從中國農村遷移到城市，而在城市生孩子的成本更高。
此外，2023年中國生育意願日益低迷，青年失業率創歷史新高，許多白領的工資下降，儲存三分之二以上家庭財富的房地產行業危機加劇，記錄顯示。
去年，聯合國估計印度超過中國，成為全球人口最多的國家。
從長遠來看，聯合國專家預計，到 2050 年，中國人口將減少 1.09 億，是他們先前預測的 2019 年減少量的三倍多。
中國60歲以上人口從2022年的2,8,004萬人增加到2023年的2,9,697萬人，約佔總人口的21.1%。
中國2023年每千人死亡7.87人，高於2022年每千人7.37人死亡。
到 2035 年，該國 60 歲及以上的退休年齡人口預計將從目前的約 2.8 億增加到 4 億以上，超過美國總人口。
國營的中國科學院預計，到 2035 年，退休金制度將耗盡資金。
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