China’s Population Declined in 2022 for First Time in Decades

China has hit a historic turning point as its population begins to shrink after years of falling birthrates, a new reality for a country that for a long time has been the world’s most populous.

The National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday that China’s population dropped to 1.412 billion in 2022, from 1.413 billion in 2021. It was the first decline since the early 1960s, when the country was devastated by famine after Mao Zedong launched his “Great Leap Forward.”

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