For years and years, China had a population problem; too many people. That problem has now reversed as China's birth rate has collapsed in a fashion that few would have been bold enough to predict 20 or 30 years ago.
China's baby bust
The latest data shows that across China 10.62 million babies were born in 2021, a rate of 7.5 for every 1,000 people. In the 1980s, even during the early years of the controversial one-child policy, that number was 23 babies per 1,000 people — meaning that birth rates have fallen almost 70% in just a generation or two, a seismic shift in family sizes and the future demographics of the country.
Top heavy
As we've noted before, China's slowing population growth might be good for the planet and resource-consumption, but it will mean China has to deal with an ageing and a "top-heavy" population for a number of years. Even the relaxation of the one-child policy in 2015 has done nothing to re-invigorate a baby boom. India will soon become the world's most populous nation, likely in the next few years.
