China’s population grew at its slowest pace in decades, according to government data released today.
The average annual growth rate was 0.53% over the past 10 years, down from a rate of 0.57% between 2000 and 2010 – bringing the population to 1.41bn.
The results add pressure on Beijing to boost measures for couples to have more babies and avert a population decline.
The results were announced in a once-a-decade census, which was originally expected to be released in April.
The census was conducted in late 2020 where some seven million census takers had gone door-to-door to collect information from Chinese households.
Given the sheer number of people surveyed, it is considered the most comprehensive resource on China’s population, which is important for future planning.
Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that 12 million babies were born last year – a significant decrease from the 18 million newborns in 2016.
However he added that it was “still a considerable number”.
As countries become more developed, birth rates tend to fall due to education or other priorities such as careers.
