Population shrinks for first time in over 60 years in China

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China's population shrunk for the first time in more than six decades last year, according to government data released Tuesday.

The 1.4 billion-person country has witnessed birth rates fall to record lows as its workforce ages, a rapid trend that analysts say might put an additional burden on public resources.

The mainland Chinese population was estimated to be around 1,411,750,000 by the end of 2022, as per Beijing's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), a decline of 850,000 from the previous year's end.

The number of births was 9.56 million, the NBS added, while the number of deaths stood at 10.41 million.

The last time China's population fell was in the early 1960s.

China lifted its one-child ban, enacted in the 1980s due to concerns about overpopulation, in 2016 and allowed couples to have three children in 2021.

Many municipal governments have already implemented policies to encourage couples to have children.

The southern megacity of Shenzhen, for example, now provides a birth bonus and allowances until the child reaches the age of three.

When a couple has their first kid, they automatically receive 3,000 yuan ($444), which increases to 10,000 yuan when they have their third.

According to demographers, China could have only 587 million people in 2100, less than half of what it has now.

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