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For the first time in over 60 years, China’s population is declining

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Eva Deschamps / January 17, 2023

In 2022, China recorded more deaths than births. This inevitably led to a population decline, the first time since the early 1960s that this country of nearly 1.5 billion people has experienced such a decline. A total of 9.56 million births were recorded last year, which did not compensate for the 10.41 million deaths, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced in a report. China’s population has therefore fallen by about 850,000 people in 2022.

 

This fall is expected to be sustained over several decades, according to many demographers, which will have significant consequences for the economy, society and the pension system.

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The population decline is the first since 1960-1961, when a terrible famine, which began in 1959, killed tens of millions of people, mainly as a result of the mistakes of the “Great Leap Forward” economic policy.

 

This drop in 2022 is explained in particular by the cost of living, which has risen sharply, by the higher level of education of women, which delays pregnancies, and by the lack of desire among the younger generation to have a child.

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The fertility rate has plummeted to 1.15 children per woman by 2021 – far below the replacement level of 2.1.

 

Coupled with aging, the decline in population, especially the number of working people, is expected to have a profound impact on China’s economy for several decades.

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Labor costs are expected to rise, eroding the competitiveness of China’s workforce, and the pressure on working people to provide care for the elderly will increase dramatically.

 

Many local authorities have already launched measures to encourage couples to have children. The southern metropolis of Shenzhen has been offering birth bonuses of up to 10,000 yuan (1,370 euros) and allowances until the child is three years old.

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Shandong province (east) gives 158 days of maternity leave (60 more than the national norm), starting with the first child.

 

China could have only 587 million inhabitants in 2100, according to the most pessimistic projections of a study of the Academy of Social Sciences of Shanghai, updated last year and whose data were transmitted to AFP.

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At least 25 dead in a bus accident in Peru

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At least 25 dead in a bus accident in Peru, Magnate Daily
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Sylvie Claire / September 23, 2023

 

At least 25 people, including two children, died when a bus crashed into a ravine in the Andean region of Huancavelica, in southern Peru, the authorities announced in a revised death toll on Monday evening.
 
An initial police report put the death toll at 20, with a further 35 injured. A statement from the Ministry of Health later that morning put the death toll at 24. Finally, at the end of the day on Monday, the death toll stood at “25 dead and 34 wounded”, according to the Ministry of Defense.
 
The accident occurred on Sunday night, when the bus carrying over 50 passengers from Huanta in Ayacucho to Huancayo in the Junin region ran off the road.
 
Images show the damaged bus lying on its side near a river below the ravine, debris and personal belongings strewn all around.
 
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte expressed her “condolences to the families” from New York, where she will be attending the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations. The Peruvian Episcopal Conference, for its part, urged the government to “carry out a serious investigation” to prevent such accidents from happening again.
 
On August 13, another accident in the same region left 13 people dead and 5 seriously injured.
 
Road accidents are frequent in Peru, mainly due to speeding and poor road maintenance, especially in mountainous areas.
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Japan is the country with the most centenarians, with over 92,000.

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Japan is the country with the most centenarians, with over 92,000., Magnate Daily
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Sylvie Claire / September 17, 2023

In Japan, the number of people aged 100 has reached a record level: the world’s third-largest economy now has 92,139 people aged 100 or over. That’s 1,613 more than a year ago, reported the Ministry of Health in Tokyo on Friday.
 
For over half a century, the number of people aged 100 has been rising every year. Due to a low birth rate and almost non-existent immigration, no other industrial state is aging as fast as this East Asian country.
 
Japan’s population is also shrinking at a record pace. Last year, the number of Japanese fell by 801,000, the biggest drop since comparable data have been recorded. There are now 122.4 million.
  
When the Japanese Ministry of Health began compiling statistics in 1963, there were 153 centenarians. Twenty-five years later, there were over 10,000. According to the latest figures, around 88% of centenarians are women. Japan has the longest life expectancy in the world. Life expectancy for women is around 87 years, and 81 for men.
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Morocco earthquake: death toll now stands at 2,946

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Morocco earthquake: death toll now stands at 2,946, Magnate Daily
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Steph Deschamps / September 17, 2023

The death toll from the earthquake in Morocco has risen to 2,946, the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior announced on Wednesday evening. A further 5,674 people were injured.
 
The previous death toll was 2,901. The death toll is expected to rise further. Hopes of finding survivors are now very slim. Rescue workers have not yet been able to reach all the villages affected in the Atlas Mountains. 
 
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the country on Friday night. The epicenter was located some 80 kilometers southwest of Marrakech. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 300,000 people in and around Marrakech were affected by the disaster.

 

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