The population of China fell last year for the first time since the 1960s, with births dropping and deaths rising, strengthening fears about a long-term economic decline.
The Chinese population declined by roughly 850,000 people to a total of 1.412 billion in 2022, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This is the first annual population decline in Chinese history since 1961—the last year of the country’s Great Famine.
NTD spoke with William Ruger, president of the American Institute for Economic Research, about what’s behind the decline and what it means for the Chinese economy.
