No Wedding, No Kids, No More CHIVES to Reap! China’s 2023 Newborn Count Lowest in 261 Years

On January 17, 2024, China's National Bureau of Statistics released the latest population data for 2023. The national population was 1.497 billion, a decrease of 2.08 million from the end of 2022. The total births were 9.02 million, with a birth rate of 6.39‰ . Deaths totaled 11.1 million, with a mortality rate of 7.87‰, leading to a natural population growth rate of negative 1.48‰. Last year, the National Bureau of Statistics also released population data, reporting that China's 2022 birth population was 9.56 million, with 10.4 million deaths, resulting in a population decrease of 850,000 from the end of the previous year. A total population decrease of 850,000 in 2022 marked the first negative growth since 1961, and the decrease of 2.08 million in 2023 is the second consecutive year of negative growth. #chinaobserver All rights reserved.