CHINA’S POPULATION GROWS BY THE SLOWEST PACE IN DECADES

Mon 17 January 2022:

Despite China’s efforts to expand the young population, official data released on Monday showed that the country’s birth rate fell to a historic low in 2021.

The figures showed that the population increased by less than half a million while China’s general population expanded by roughly 480,000 people, bringing the total population to 1.4126 billion in 2021.

In 2021, the number of births fell for the fifth year in a row, falling to 10.62 million from 12 million in 2020.

The birth rate of 7.52 per 1,000 people in 2021 was the lowest since the National Statistics Bureau (NBS) started collecting data in 1949.

China’s population natural growth rate, excluding migration, was only 0.034 percent in 2021, the lowest since 1960.

Population data from China’s 31 provinces, autonomous areas, and municipalities was analyzed. It excludes foreigners, as well as Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, according to the South China Morning Post.

Last year, Beijing began allowing couples to have up to three children, but the most recent statistics suggests that the current decreasing trend has continued.

“The demographic challenge is well known but the speed of population ageing is clearly faster than expected,” Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset management said as quoted by Reuters.

“This suggests China’s total population may have reached its peak in 2021. It also indicates China’s potential growth is likely slowing faster than expected,” Zhang said.

China has been enacting measures aimed at easing the financial burden of raising children, including prohibiting for-profit after-school tuition, a large business, last year.

In the absence of further policy adjustments, according to Huang Wenzheng, a demography expert at the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization, birth counts are likely to fluctuate in the ten million area before decreasing further.

“But policies will provide greater support for the birth rate in the longer run,” Huang said.

“Career advancements could be tied to whether you have children or not; economic incentives; or even direct cash payouts by society to meet the cost of raising a family.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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