China population drops by 2.08 million in 2023

China's population decreased by 2.08 million people in 2023 to 1.40967  billion the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Wednesday, Global Times reported.

In 2023, 9.02 million babies were born, resulting in a birth rate of 6.39 per thousand people. Meanwhile, 11.1 million people died in 2023, equal to a death rate of 7.87 per thousand people, the data showed.

The natural population growth rate was negative 1.48 per thousand people, the NBS said.

The male population was 720.32 million, surpassing the female population that was 689.35 million, data showed. The overall gender ratio was 104.49 (per 100 females).

In terms of age, the working-age population (aged 16-59) stood at 864.81 million, making up 61.3 percent of the total population.

The population aged 60 and above was 296.97 million, accounting for 21.1 percent of the total population, with population aged 65 and above being 216.76 million, making up 15.4 percent of the total.

Regarding urban-rural composition, the urban population was 932.67 million in 2023, an increase of 11.96 million compared to the previous year, while the rural population was 477 million, a decrease of 14.04 million. The urban population accounted for 66.16 percent of the total population, which increased by 0.94 percentage points compared to the previous year, according to the data.

Following China's first-ever population decline in 2022, the extent of population decline in the country had been expected to deepen in 2023, according to demographic forecasts.