In 2022, China's population shrank for the first time in six decades, a historic reversal that is expected to usher in a long period of decline in the country's population with profound consequences for its economy and the world, Reuters reported.

China's population has fallen by about 850,000 people to 1.41 billion people at the end of 2022, the country's National Bureau of Statistics said. The drop, the biggest since 1961, the last year of the Great Chinese Famine, also lends weight to predictions that India will become the world's most populous country this year.

"China's demographic and economic prospects are much bleaker than expected. China will have to adjust its social, economic, defense and foreign policies," said demographer Yi Fuxiang.

UN experts predict that in the long term, China's population will shrink by 109 million people by 2050, more than three times the decline compared to their previous forecast in 2019.

This has led local demographers to complain that China will grow old before it gets rich, which will slow the economy as incomes fall and government debt rises due to rising health and welfare costs.

Follow Novinite.com on Twitter and Facebook

Write to us at editors@novinite.com

Информирайте се на Български - Novinite.bg

/OFFNews

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!