China’s economy grows by mere 3% amid shrinking population

Chinese Economy had its weakest performance in 2022 since 1976 the final year of Mao Zedong’s three-decade rule. China’s Economy grew by 3% in 2022, according to government data. This comes when China’s population has shrunk for the first time in 60 years as a start of a period which is expected to be a period of population decline.

The world’s most populous nation has seen birth rates plummeting down to record lows as its workforce ages. This is having an adverse impact on nation’s economy and adding pressure to its already strained public finances.

According to a study released on Tuesday by Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the population of mainland China was roughly 1,411,750,000 at the end of 2022, down 850,000 from the end of the previous year. The NBS reported that there were 9.56 million births while there were 10.41 million deaths. In China, males still outweigh women by a ratio of 722.06 million to 689.69 million.

Prior to removing the aim from official announcements due to the deteriorating economic Conditions, China’s government had set a target of 5.5 percent growth. Even still, the increase in the fourth quarter was far higher than some experts had anticipated.

“The data exceeded expectations over the board, which means fewer risks to Q1-23 growth. We have revised our growth forecast for 2023 to 6.0 percent,” Carlos Casanova, senior economist for Asia at UBP in Hong Kong, told news agency.

“Namely, China experienced a permanent loss in potential output as a result of low fertility rates during three long years of zero-COVID, resulting in a marked population decline.”

The NBS reported that there were 9.56 million births while there were 10.41 million deaths in 2. In China, male population still outnumbers women population i.e. 722.06 million males to 689.69 million women.

The latest estimates represent the country’s first population decline since 1961, when the Great Leap Forward, Mao Zedong’s catastrophic agricultural strategy, led to the greatest famine in modern history.