China’s population drops for third year in a row despite uptick in births
Though China’s birth rate rose this year after an all-time low in 2023, the country’s overall population continued its decline
China’s population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, with a modest rise in new births outnumbered by deaths as the country’s collective age continues to creep upwards and deepen the demographic crisis.
The total population dropped by 1.39 million in 2024 to 1.4083 billion, down from 1.4097 billion people in 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday.
Meanwhile, about 10.93 million people died, pushing the death rate to a five-decade high.
China further loosened its family planning restrictions in 2021, allowing couples to have a third child. Analysts said the uptick in the number of newborns last year could indicate the policy change has had some effect.
Even a slight rebound will not be sufficient to offset the long-term decline, as a decrease in newborns is difficult to reverse, said Yuan Xin, vice-president of the China Population Association and a professor of demography at Nankai University in Tianjin.
“The significant decline in the childbearing population – compounded by the rising number of singles, DINKs and infertility cases – has drastically reduced the pool of potential parents,” said Yuan, using the acronym for “double income, no kids” to describe some couples.