China Population Extends Record Drop on Covid Deaths, Low Births

 

• Births hit a new low in 2023, falling to 9.02 million
• Deaths rose likely due to excess deaths from abrupt Covid exit

China’s population extended a historic decline in 2023 as deaths rose after Beijing ended strict pandemic curbs and births continued to fall.

China recorded 11.1 million deaths, some 690,000 higher than the previous year’s 10.41 million, according to data released by the National Statistics Bureau on Wednesday. The increase is likely due to a swell in Covid-related fatalities in the months after authorities abandoned their Covid Zero strategy in December 2022 and led to an explosion of infections.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-17/china-population-extends-historic-decline-as-covid-deaths-surged