China Population Falls for the First Time since 1961

China's population fell by 850K to 1.411 billion in 2022 from 1.412 billion in 2021, the first decline since 1961.

There were 9.56 million births in the year, pushing the birth rate in 2022 to a record low of 6.77 births per 1,000 people, compared to 10.41 births in 2019.

“That’s mainly a result of drop in people’s willingness to have babies, the delay in marriage and pregnancy, as well as a fall in number of women of child-bearing age,” according to Kang Yi, head of the National Statistics Bureau.

The country's strict zero-Covid policy is also seen to have accelerated the fall in the birth rate.

Meanwhile, there were 10.41 million deaths, increasing the death rate to 7.37 per 1,000 people, the highest since 1970, from 7.09 in 2019.