China’s population declined last year for the first time in more than six decades., according to official figures released on Tuesday, which point to a demographic crisis in the world’s most populous country. “By the end of 2022, the national population was 1,411.75 million,” reported the National Statistics Office (ONE) in Beijing, specifying that it is “a decrease of 0.85 million since the end of 2021.”
The ONE specified that the number of births was 9.56 million and 10.41 million deaths were registered.
The country’s birth rate has fallen to historic levels due to the aging of the population, an accelerated decline that, according to analysts, it could affect economic growth and put pressure on public finances. The last time China’s population declined was in 1960, when the country faced the worst famine in its modern history, caused by Mao Zedong’s agricultural policy called the Great Leap Forward.
China abolished its strict one-child policy in 2016imposed in the 1980s due to fears of overpopulation, and in 2021 it began allowing couples to have three children.
But those authorizations failed to stem the demographic decline. “Who still dares to have children? The unemployment rate is high (among young people), covid destroyed everything,” a man in his 30s from Shanghai told AFP.
Bonuses for children
Given these figures, many local authorities launched measures to encourage couples to have children. For example, the southern megacity of Shenzhen offers a birth bonus and a monthly allowance until the child turns three.
A couple having their first baby automatically receives 3,000 yuan ($444), and the figure rises to 10,000 yuan ($1,480) for the third child.
The eastern city of Jinan began paying a monthly allowance of 600 yuan for couples having a second child on Jan. 1. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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