Mainland China saw its population fall for the second straight year in 2023, government data showed Wednesday, with its birthrate hitting a new record low to accelerate the graying of the world's second-largest economy.
The population of China, excluding Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, reached 1,409.67 million by the end of 2023, down 2.08 million from the previous year, a marked increase from the 850,000 decline in 2022.
The birthrate fell to 6.39 per 1,000 people, down from 6.77 the year before to hit a new record low since 1949, when Mao Zedong founded the Communist-led country.
The number of babies born stood at 9.02 million, down from 9.56 million in 2022 for the seventh straight yearly decline. The figure fell below the benchmark of 10 million for the first time in 2022 since 1950, according to Chinese media.
China's population has been graying, due largely to its "one-child policy" introduced in 1979, but the policy was scrapped under President Xi Jinping's government in 2016 as concerns grew that a rapidly aging population would constrain the nation's economic expansion.
According to U.N. estimates, India overtook China as the world's most populous nation in 2023.
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