China has serious problems.
baby bust
The number of births in China fell sharply last year, with only 7.88 million births in 2023, compared to 9.56 million in 2022. This sharp decline speaks to changing social norms and economic pressures. Not to mention the fight against massive overpopulation. The target was exceeded in a vast country with a population of 1.4 billion.
radio free asia Chinese state media reportedly published the numbers incorrectly in late December and had articles containing them removed soon after. The implication is that this figure is a sensitive issue as dark clouds loom over China’s famously gigantic economy. The transformation from a rural place to a major economic and political player in the world.
In fact, by the late 1970s, China’s population was growing so rapidly that the ruling Communist Party introduced a policy that virtually all families could only have one child. But even after reversing that policy in 2016, the country’s population is now on the opposite trajectory, with the nation’s leaders struggling with a sluggish economy and high unemployment among people of marriageable age, who are having babies just about everywhere. We are dealing with factors that may dampen the market. .
Spedy Babies
China is not the only country experiencing a rapidly aging population and declining birthrate. Japan, a long-time rival, has experienced years of population decline. Add in other places like Taiwan, Russia, Europe, and America, and you have the makings of a strange new global trend.
Why are developed countries having fewer children despite government intervention? Many people who want to become parents believe that the cost of a baby is too high, and that the world has experienced many shocks over the past 20 years. He says he has little faith in economics. Moreover, many argue that there are other things to do instead of having children.
“There are more lucrative jobs for people, especially women,” said Philip Cohen, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland. vox last year.
Amidst this depressing news, the countries with the highest birth rates are in Africa, with Niger leading the way with 6.73 children per woman. Long considered an economically underdeveloped country, Africa’s youth boom is bringing all these children to higher education, entrepreneurship, and growing cultural importance, exemplified by the popularity of Afrobeats, and to the world. There is a possibility that it will change.
These rapid demographic changes have led some economic analysts to predict that Africa will become the new China.
Population details: Japan’s population is plummeting at an alarming rate