China demographic crisis looms as population growth slips to slowest ever

Beijing

CHINA'S population grew at its slowest in the last decade since the 1950s as births declined, sowing doubt over Beijing's ability to power its economy as it succumbs to the same ageing trends afflicting developed nations like Japan.

With growth having ebbed ever since a one-child policy was introduced in the late 1970s, the 2020 results of the country's once-a-decade census on Tuesday showed that the population of mainland China increased 5.38 per cent to 1.41 billion. That was the least since modern census-taking began in 1953.

Data showed a fertility rate of 1.3 children per woman for 2020 alone, on par with ageing societies like Japan and Italy.

The shrill alarm for China's policymakers is that the world's second-biggest economy may already be in irreversible population decline without having first accumulated the household wealth of G-7 nations.

The number meant China narrowly missed a target it set in 2016 to boost its population to about 1.42 billion by 2020, with a fertility rate of around 1.8. In 2016, China replaced its one-child policy - initially imposed to halt a population explosion at the time - with a two-child limit.

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The sharp deterioration in demographics will fuel pressure on Beijing to ramp up incentives to couples to have more children - incentives that have thus far failed to offset the impact of career choices and cost-of-living challenges that couples say have deterred them from starting extended families.

Analysts said that with substantial ageing of the population already in view, the census numbers will also give ammunition to policymakers arguing in favour of raising the country's retirement age sooner than later.

"From the trend of population development in recent years, the population growth will continue to slow in the future," said Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, speaking after the release of the census results. "China's population will reach a peak in the future, but the specific time is still uncertain. It is estimated that China's total population will remain at more than 1.4 billion in the near future," Mr Ning said.

In recent months, China's state media has been increasingly bleak on the outlook, saying that the population may start to shrink in the next few years. The United Nations predicts the number of people living in mainland China will peak in 2030 before declining.

Urban couples, particularly those born after 1990, tend to value their independence and careers more than raising a family despite parental pressure to have children. Surging living costs in big cities, where most Chinese now live, have also deterred couples from having children.

According to a 2005 report by a state think-tank, it cost 490,000 yuan for an ordinary family in China to raise a child. By 2020, local media reported that the cost had risen to as high as 1.99 million yuan - four times the 2005 number.

Citizens aged 65 and older accounted for 13.5 per cent of the population in 2020, the data showed, far higher than the 8.87 per cent registered for 2010. REUTERS