On the morning of January 17, the Information Office of the State Council held a press conference to introduce the national economic operation in 2023.
The total population has decreased, and the urbanization rate continues to increase
- At the end of 2023, the national population (including the population of 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government and active military personnel, excluding residents of Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign nationals residing in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) was 1.40967 billion, a decrease of 2.08 million from the end of the previous year.
- The number of births for the whole year was 9.02 million, with a birth rate of 6.39‰; the number of deaths was 11.10 million, with a death rate of 7.87‰; the natural population growth rate was -1.48‰.
- From the perspective of gender composition, there were 720.32 million male population and 689.35 million female population, and the overall sex ratio of the population was 104.49 (with females as 100).
- From the perspective of age composition, the working-age population aged 16-59 was 864.81 million, accounting for 61.3% of the national population; the population aged 60 and over was 296.97 million, accounting for 21.1% of the national population, of which the population aged 65 and over was 216.76 million, accounting for 15.4% of the national population.
- From the perspective of urban and rural composition, the urban permanent population was 932.67 million, an increase of 11.96 million from the end of the previous year; the rural permanent population was 477 million, a decrease of 14.04 million; the proportion of the urban population in the national population (urbanization rate) was 66.16%, an increase of 0.94 percentage points from the end of the previous year.
The employment situation is generally stable, and the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas has decreased
- The average surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas across the country for the whole year was 5.2%, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points compared to the previous year. In December, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas across the country was 5.1%. The surveyed unemployment rate for local registered labor force was 5.2%; the surveyed unemployment rate for non-local registered labor force was 4.7%, of which the surveyed unemployment rate for non-local agricultural registered labor force was 4.3%.
- The surveyed unemployment rates for the labor force aged 16-24, 25-29, and 30-59, excluding students in school, were 14.9%, 6.1%, and 3.9%, respectively.
- The surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas of 31 major cities was 5.0%. The average weekly working hours of employed persons in enterprises across the country were 49.0 hours.
- The total number of migrant workers for the whole year was 297.53 million, an increase of 1.91 million, or 0.6%, compared to the previous year. Among them, local migrant workers were 120.95 million, a decrease of 2.2%; migrant workers working outside their hometowns were 176.58 million, an increase of 2.7%. The average monthly income of migrant workers was 4,780 yuan, an increase of 3.6% compared to the previous year.
On the Weibo platform, the topic “#Population” topped the trending searches, and many netizens discussed the situation of “China’s population experiencing negative growth for two consecutive years.”
Background News: On January 17, 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics released data showing that at the end of 2022, the national population (including the population of 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government and active military personnel, excluding residents of Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign nationals residing in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) was 1.41175 billion, a decrease of 850,000 from the end of the previous year. The number of births for the whole year was 9.56 million, with a birth rate of 6.77‰; the number of deaths was 10.41 million, with a death rate of 7.37‰; the natural population growth rate was -0.60‰. This is also the first time that China’s population has experienced negative growth since 1962 (i.e., nearly 61 years), which is 9 years earlier than the official forecast and 10 years earlier than the United Nations’ forecast in 2019.
Related Reading: 【Network Public Opinion】China’s population has experienced negative growth for the first time in nearly 61 years. Netizens: Congratulations
A related Weibo post from Global Times has enabled “comment selection”:
The following is an excerpt of comments from netizens by China Digital Times editors:
Will you pour the wine? Still one sentence, don’t create innocent lives and become victims of the times.
Liang Jingyu Royal: The comments are all closed, what else is there to say.
Dai Junwen U: Low fertility rate is the silent resistance and cry of the people.
Mengmeng’s Middle Two Disease: Give the children to the masters as cattle and horses?
Bingbing Liangliang Bingkuoluo a: Good, good, and there is room for decline.
Tingzhuang Baisha 110: I thought there were only more than seven million last year, which still exceeded my expectations
Beijing Eric1119: It’s really wishful thinking to talk about having children when you can’t even find a job.
CSKupr: Ancient research: how to make the horse good and not eat grass; modern research: how to compete with the people for profit and let the people have more children.
Mummy-Hungry-Rice: “Japan went the earliest, South Korea went the farthest, and China went the fastest”.
DictatorOfPRC: The goal of family planning has been achieved! Congratulations!
Like obedient dogs: More than nine million? You don’t want your life if you have so many.
Kiki98621043949: I laugh when I think that having children will become a way of showing off wealth in the future.
jfJZajRH2XdpDtP: Before getting rich, get old first, China’s golden age is over.
Oh oh oh oh is Aqing: When the environment is not suitable for the survival of organisms, it is the nature of organisms to give up reproduction, and this data is what this environment deserves.
Angel10222010: “We are the last generation, thank you” is not false. Who will have children in a country where the future is invisible?
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