China’s population drops for 2nd year, raises long-term growth concerns

The National Bureau of Statistics said the total number of people in China dropped by 2.75 million to 1.409 billion in 2023, a faster decline than in 2022.

China’s population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023, as a plunging birth rate and a wave of Covid-19 deaths, when strict lockdowns ended, accelerated a downturn that will have profound long-term effects on the economy's growth potential.