Hong Kong, July 25 (BUS): China’s population has slowed significantly and is expected to start shrinking before 2025, the state-backed Global Times reported, citing a senior health official.
Birth data released late Sunday showed the number of newborns in 2021 was the lowest in decades in several counties, Reuters reported.
The number of births in central Hunan province has fallen below 500,000 for the first time in nearly 60 years, the Global Times said. She added that only southern China’s Guangdong Province had seen more than one million newborns.
China is struggling to reverse a rapid contraction in natural population growth as many young people choose not to have children due to factors including high cost and work pressure.
China’s population is expected to start shrinking in 2021-2025, the Global Times reported, citing Yang Wenchuang, head of population and family affairs at the National Health Commission.
MI