Permanent populations of 10 provincial- level regions fall in 2021: data

The permanent populations of at least 10 provincial- level regions on the Chinese mainland fell in 2021, according to data released by statistic authorities from the country’s 30 provinces and regions, which experts said was an expected crisis that needs to be fixed urgently.

Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province lost 460,000 permanent residents compared with the previous year, the most significant decline nationwide. North China’s Hebei and Shanxi and Northwest China’s Gansu provinces each lost more than 100,000 people in the same period.

China’s population reached 1.41 billion as of the end of 2021, up by 480,000 from the previous year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS). From a national perspective, the natural population growth rate in 2021 was 0.34 per thousand, which was declined by 1.11 per thousand than 2020, NBS data shows.

Behind the slowdown in population growth was the continued decline in births, as a result of a decline in the number of women of childbearing age as well as a decline in fertility levels.

The reported decline was expected, as it was foreshadowed by a steady decline in birth rates that began in the early 1990s, Huang Wenzheng, a demography expert and senior researcher at the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Sunday.

“China already faces a serious demographic crisis, with its population accounting for 18 percent of the world’s total, but its newborns accounting for only 7 percent of the entire world,” said Huang, while calling for urgent tools to avoid a total population collapse.

People’s willingness to raise children is also directly linked to their economic conditions and social atmosphere, Huang noted, “It can’t be ignored that more and more people care more about personal fulfillment.”

China’s population crisis cannot be wholly addressed by the three- child policy alone or extending paid maternity leave. Other efforts such as improving the distribution of wealth, improving the pension system and reducing childcare costs should also be made, Huang emphasized.