China's population plummeted last year for the first time in six decades, the country's National Bureau of Statistics has revealed.
According to the bureau, the number declined by about 850,000 to more than 1.4 billion at the end of 2022.
"By the end of 2022, the national population was 1,411.75 million (including the population of 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and servicemen, but excluding residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and foreigners living in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities), a decrease of 0.85 million over that at the end of 2021," the statistical office said in a statement on Tuesday.
China’s male population stood at 722.06 million, while the female population was estimated at 689.69 million, and "the sex ratio of the total population was 104.69 (104.69 men per 100 women)," the statement read.
"In 2022, the number of births was 9.56 million with a birth rate of 6.77 per thousand; the number of deaths was 10.41 million with a mortality rate of 7.37 per thousand; the natural population growth rate was minus 0.60 per thousand," the statistical office added.
The bureau also said that the population at the working age, from 16 to 59, amounted to 875.6 million (62% of China's total population), the number of people aged 60 and over was 280 million (19.8%) and population aged 65 and over was 209.8 million (14.9%).
The gender balance of the Chinese population was seriously affected by the so-called "one-child" policy, introduced in 1979 in order to prevent overpopulation and famine. Under this policy, urban families only had the right to have only one child, while rural families could have two children, but only if the first one was a girl.
In 2013, the Chinese authorities eased the restrictions. Couples, where at least one of the spouses was the only child in the family, were allowed to have a second child. Later, in 2016, all couples were allowed to have a second child. However, the measures not only did not cause a boom in the birth rate, they resulted in the exact opposite effect.
In the summer of 2021, the authorities approved the adoption of amendments to the law on population. The amendments allowed families to have a third child and canceled all previously provided fines and payments.