CChina's population fell for the third consecutive year last year, the government said on Friday, pointing to further demographic challenges in the world's second most populous country, which is facing an aging population and a shortage of working-age people.

At the end of 2024, China's population was 1.408 billion, a decrease of 1.39 million from the previous year.

The figures released by the Beijing government follow global trends, especially in East Asia, where birth rates have fallen sharply in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and other countries. Three years ago, China joined Japan and most of Eastern Europe in declining populations.

The reasons are similar in many cases: rising costs of living are causing young people to delay or forego getting married and having children while pursuing higher education and careers. Although people are living longer, it's not enough to keep up with the birth rate.

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Countries such as China that allow few immigrants are particularly at risk.

China has long been one of the world's most populous countries, enduring invasions, floods and other natural disasters to maintain a population that lives off rice in the south and wheat in the north. After World War II ended and the Communists came to power in 1949, extended families re-emerged and the population doubled in just thirty years, even as tens of millions died in the Great Leap Forward in pursuit of agricultural and industrial revolutions. The Cultural Revolution occurred later that year.

After the end of the Cultural Revolution and the death of leader Mao Zedong, Communist Party bureaucrats became concerned that the country's population had exceeded its ability to feed itself and began implementing a harsh "one-child policy." Although it was never a law, women were required to apply for a maternity permit, and violators could face forced late-term abortions and birth control procedures, hefty fines, and their children could be stripped of their ID numbers, effectively making them non-citizens. .

Preference for male offspring is particularly strong in rural China, where having two children is still ostensibly allowed, and has become the focus of government efforts, with women forced to show proof they are menstruating and buildings plastered with signs such as “Have fewer children, Live a good life” and other slogans. children. "

The government is trying to stamp out elective abortion, but because abortion is legal and readily available, those who run illegal ultrasound machines do a thriving business.

This is the biggest factor in China's gender imbalance, with millions of boys born for every 100 girls born, increasing the potential for social instability among China's army of bachelors. Friday's report showed the gender imbalance was 104.34 men for every 100 women, although independent groups put the ratio much higher.

What makes the government even more uneasy is the sharp decline in the birth rate. In 2023, China's total population declined for the first time in decades. In the same year, China was narrowly surpassed by India and became the most populous country in the world. Factors such as a rapidly aging population, a declining labor force, a lack of consumer markets, and overseas immigration are putting tremendous pressure on the entire system.

While spending on military and infrastructure projects continues to rise, China's already fragile social security system is crumbling, with more and more Chinese refusing to pay into an underfunded pension system.

Currently, more than one-fifth of the population is aged 60 or over, with the official figure at 310.3 million, or 22% of the total population. By 2035, this figure is expected to exceed 30%, sparking discussion about changes to the official retirement age, which is one of the lowest in the world. Due to declining student numbers, some vacant schools and kindergartens are being converted into elderly care facilities.

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These developments go some way to confirming the adage that China, now the world's second largest economy, faces significant headwinds and will "get old before it gets rich."

Government incentives, including cash payments for up to three children and financial assistance with housing costs, have had only a temporary effect.

At the same time, China continues to transform into an urban society, with 10 million new people moving into cities and the urbanization rate reaching 67%, nearly one percentage point higher than the previous year.