China’s population will start shrinking before 2025 says senior health official

The population in China will start shrinking soon says a senior health official in what can only be good news for an overpopulated planet.

A report in the state-backed Global Times on Monday, July 25 quoted the official, Yang Wenzhuang, Head of Population and Family Affairs at the National Health Commission, as saying that population growth had slowed considerably and could see the total population start shrinking by 2025.

The comments follow the release of new births data over the weekend which showed that they had fallen to the lowest rate in decades, with only one province recording more than a million new births in 2021.

Like many other countries with growing wealth, young people in China are opting to not have children or to reduce the size of their families. Careers, work pressures, high childcare costs and other factors are contributing to the falling birth rates according to Wenzhuang.

After many decades of a single-child policy, the country changed its laws last year to allow women to have up to three children. But that has not helped the situation, with the culture of having large families have changed.

Job security and gender equality are also given as reasons for the failure of women to opt for larger families.

The government’s official view on a shrinking population is unclear, but those concerned about overpopulation, global warming and other issues will welcome the news that China’s population will start shrinking before 2025.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.