--- description: New government data reveals that China’s population shrunk by some 2 million last year—with a continued drop in births and a rise in deaths. title: China’s Population Drops Second Year in a Row image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec41fbc9000d3407/698a43eeb3fce38cad0cb307/china-population.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [China](/tag/china/) ## China Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # China’s Population Shrinks Some More—Decrease in Births, Increase in Deaths in 2023  by [Chad de Guzman](/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Jan 17, 2024 4:30 AM CUT  Chinese people gather at Tiananmen Square to mark National Day in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2023. Chinese people gather at Tiananmen Square to mark National Day in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2023.Andrea Verdelli—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Chad de Guzman](/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Jan 17, 2024 4:30 AM CUT China’s population contracted for the second straight year—as deaths in 2023 rose and births hit a new low—as the world’s second largest economy faces growing risk of demographic crisis. [Government data](https://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202401/t20240117%5F1946605.html "undefined") released Wednesday showed that China’s overall population by the end of 2023 was 1.4097 billion, down about 2 million people from 1.4118 billion in 2022, which [last year fell for the first time in decades](https://time.com/6248728/china-population-decline-aging/ "undefined") by about 850,000 from 2021\. The year-to-year decrease may seem relatively minute, but experts say it represents a significant trend for the country and a major threat to its plans for growth. China’s birth rate last year stood at 6.39 per thousand, down from 6.77 per thousand in 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, as high costs of childrearing and [record-levels of youth unemployment](https://time.com/6304881/china-stops-publishing-youth-unemployment-statistics/ "undefined") appear to be leading to an increasing aversion to having kids. **Read More:** [_China Is Desperate to Boost Its Low Birth Rates. It May Have to Accept the New Normal_](https://time.com/6306151/china-low-fertility-trap-birth-rate-policies/ "undefined") Meanwhile, China experienced 11.1 million deaths in 2023, up from 10.4 million in 2022\. Observers anticipated such an uptick as China [abruptly lifted](https://time.com/6242854/china-zero-covid-reversal-xi-jinping/ "undefined") its strict COVID-19 controls in late 2022. China’s official population counts exclude foreigners as well as residents of its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau. Notably, the demographic data released on Wednesday also showed that the proportion of China’s population aged 60 and above has surpassed 20%. Earlier this week, in an effort to address the [challenges of an aging population](https://time.com/5523805/china-aging-population-working-age/ "undefined"), China [unveiled a plan to boost its “silver economy.”](https://time.com/6555949/china-silver-economy-aging-population-plan/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6556324/china-population-decline-births-deaths/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6556324/china-population-decline-births-deaths/"},"headline":"China’s Population Shrinks Some More—Decrease in Births, Increase in Deaths in 2023","datePublished":"2024-01-17T04:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T16:58:13.409Z","description":"New government data reveals that China’s population shrunk by some 2 million last year—with a continued drop in births and a rise in deaths.","url":"https://time.com/6556324/china-population-decline-births-deaths/","keywords":["China","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec41fbc9000d3407/698a43eeb3fce38cad0cb307/china-population.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chad de Guzman","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec41fbc9000d3407/698a43eeb3fce38cad0cb307/china-population.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"China Celebrates National Day","caption":"China Celebrates National Day","creditText":"Andrea Verdelli—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/china/","name":"China"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6556324/china-population-decline-births-deaths/","name":"China’s Population Shrinks Some More—Decrease in Births, Increase in Deaths in 2023"}}]}] ```