China has reported a decline in its population after over almost 80 years. The last decline in population was reported by China in 1961. Along with this, China also reported a significant slowdown in the growth of the country's economy due to the impact of stringent COVID-19 restrictions applied by the government. According to the census report in China, the population fell by 850,000 in 2022 in comparison to 2021. It has been over seven years since China ended its one-child policy which was applied as an attempt to address the growing population of the country. But because of rapid industrialization and urbanization, couples in the country are still opting for one child, which has significantly lowered the birth rate in China. Because of this, many experts believe that the country has now entered into a negative population phase which will lead to more decline in the population in the coming years.
China has the largest population than any other country in the world. As of 2022, China has a population of 1.4118 billion. India, the second largest country by population, is just short of China's population. India has a population of 1.4076 billion. However, unlike India, China has been actively battling with the inflating population as it has been over 80 years since the country first reported a population decline. Before this decade, China had a one-child policy to limit the number of children count per couple in the country. The one-child policy in the country was active from 1980 to 2015, which restricted many families to having only one child. But from 1980 till 2015, the time has drastically changed globally. Economic inflation has made it harder for working families to manage their expenses. Along with this, the growing competition for education. Employment and other necessary things have pushed families towards better family management. Men's and women's equality has also contributed to this drastic change as both parents are working to manage their family expenses, leaving less time for them to take care of their children. China has a well-developed manufacturing and production industry which is solely dependent on the country's massive human resources. Because of this, even after lifting the one-child policy, couples in China are still adhering to having one child, which has lowered birth rates in the country. On the other hand, the aged population in China is increasing rapidly. Because of all these factors, census experts in the country have marked 2022 as the start of a negative population phase for China.
China also reported a significant decline in economic growth as the country's GDP grew by only 3% in 2022. The economic experts in the country have blamed China’s Zero-COVID policy for this decline as the policy has greatly impacted many industries. Because of the Zero-COVID policy, the country sealed its borders, which affected the foreign trades and exports and imports business. Many leading companies such as Apple, Tesla, Samsung, and many others, have their manufacturing plants set in China. But because of its stringent regulations and employee management during COVID, these manufacturing plants were producing significantly lower volumes than their pre-COVID output.
