For the first time in decades, China has recorded a decline in its population. The birth rate continues to decline.
Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics released Tuesday this week noted that there were 1.411 billion citizens at the end of 2022, down 850 thousand compared to the previous year.
Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor of social sciences at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, the shrinking population is certainly having an impact on the economy.
“The era of fast growth, double digit growth, cheap labor, young workforce, that era is now really over,” said Gietel-Basten.
The population in China is said to be overtaken by India. By 2022, according to UN data, India will have a population of 1.406 billion, trailing only China with 1.448 billion.
A fly in the ointment
Apparently, the ‘culprit’ of China’s declining population is related to China’s one-child policy, which has been in effect since the 1980s. Restrict legally, so that families do not have more than one baby.
Finally, low fertility rates and an aging population are now recorded in large numbers. Last year, China saw more deaths than births, according to government data published this week.
Officials say 10.41 million people died while 9.56 million were born. In 2015, China ended its one-child policy and began allowing married couples to have two children. The government is also expanding benefits for families in 2021, allowing them to have three children.
Yun Zhou, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan, told NPR that China’s recent attempts to reverse course and encourage families to have more children have been unsuccessful.
“From my own research, what I’ve seen is women often resist and often prioritize their work, prioritizing pursuing individualistic goals over these ongoing incentives,” said Zhou.
“But because China is an authoritarian country, it remains to be seen to what extent and how extreme the country will actually go to incentivize births.”
Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic
After COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, the whole world experienced difficulties on the economic side, especially in China, the world’s second largest economy.
The reason is, in some cases people stay at home for days or even weeks due to strict lockdowns implemented to slow the spread of the virus.
Gietel-Basten said China had to struggle with economic insecurity caused by the pandemic as well as the challenges of working from home and having a family in these challenging circumstances.
But he added that China’s shrinking population does not mean the country will experience a decline in its economic growth. Gietel-Basten notes that the government has invested in services for its aging population, and will try to increase productivity among the many workers it still has.
“There are still a lot of levers to be pulled in China,” he said.
Watch Video “The Country’s Population Is Shrinking, Chinese Citizens Are Reluctant to Have Many Children“
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