GUWAHATI, Jan 17: China’s population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024 as experts said the figures are likely to fall further.
The total population dropped by 1.39 million to 1.408 billion in 2024 while it was 1.409 billion in 2023, news agency Reuters stated quoting data released by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.
Although the birth rate, the report stated, rose to 6.77 births per 1,000 people in 2024 versus 6.39 per 1,000 people in 2023, the number of deaths shrank to 10.93 million in 2024 from 11.1 million in 2023.
Incidentally, China had ended its strict “one-child policy”, imposed in the 1980s amid overpopulation fears, in 2016. In 2021, Beijing allowed couples have three children.
(With inputs from agencies)
