China's Population Drops For The Third Anniversary Due To Concerns About The Economy

The birth rate in China has decreased (doc. Antara).

JAKARTA - China's population continues to decline for the third year in a row in 2024 as birth rates decline and amid concerns about the economy. The demographic crisis continues to overshadow the East Asian superpower.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Friday, January 17, 2025, that China's population fell by 1.39 million over the past 12 months to 1.408 billion as deaths continued to surpass birth.

China's population has continued to decline since the 1980s, but 2022 marks the first time deaths have surpassed birth since 1961.

At that time, China was in the midst of a disaster-causing Great Leap Forward plan, which caused hunger where about 20 million people died of hunger.

Beijing's latest efforts to slow down the decline in birth rates have failed to slow down the long-term trend. NBS recognizes China faces several challenges.

"We must realize that the adverse impacts brought by the external environment are increasing, domestic demand is insufficient, some companies are experiencing difficulties in production and operations, as well as the economy is still facing difficulties and challenges," the NBS report said.

Beijing has used a variety of carbon-and-stick approaches to increase birth rates.

Starting from labeling single women as "manditions" if they are still not married, making it difficult for divorce or abortion, and offering subsidies to couples to support the increase in child care costs.

Marriages increased 12.4 percent year-on-year (YoY) in 2023 after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a brief increase in birth in the first half of 2024 in some parts of the country.

Last year was also a lucky Dragon Year in China, which usually causes a baby birth boom across Asia, but experts say its overall trend is declining.

China officially ended its one-child policy in 2016 which for decades has been trying to control the country's growth. However, it ended up with an unbalanced population due to cultural preferences for boys.

Families are now allowed to have three children starting in 2021, but rising cost of living in urban areas, a slowing economy, and the high unemployment rate of young people have made raising children a less attractive prospect for many young Chinese.

China's economy grew by five percent in 2024, meeting government predictions, but gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to continue to slow down in the coming years.

Facing the demographic crisis, Beijing has implemented new measures to gradually increase mandatory retirement age from 60 to 63 for men, 55 to 58 for women in managerial and technical positions, and 55 for all other female workers.

China is not the only country in East Asia to face a demographic crisis.

Japan, South Korea, and China Taipei also experienced a decline in population for the same reason as China, including immigration restrictions.

China, like most East Asia, also does not allow unmarried women to access fertility treatments, such as IVF (in vitro frequentization).