Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
China saw its third straight year of population decline in 2024, despite the country’s first rise in births in nearly a decade in what is traditionally considered an auspicious year.
Figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed the country recorded 9.54 million births in 2024, down from 10.93 million deaths but up from 9 million births last year as Chinese families celebrated the Year of the Dragon, which is believed to be an auspicious zodiac sign.
The increase was the first increase in births since 2016 and left the country with a total population of 1.408 billion. In 2023, India overtook China as the most populous country in the world.
China’s declining population, which fell for the first time in 2022 six decadesit stems from a 1980s policy — which ended in 2016 — that limited most couples to just one child, below the average of 2.1 needed to keep the population stable.
Analysts say birth rates have also been reduced by economic pressures as the country grapples with slowing growth.
Policy makers are looking to alternatives such as automation and robotics to keep productivity levels high, as well as trying to encourage couples to have more children by combining subsidies, tax breaks and solicitation.
