World News
War in Ukraine: hitting Ukraine’s infrastructure is inevitable, says Vladimir Putin

Steph Deschamps / December 3, 2022
World News
For the first time in over 60 years, China’s population is declining
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
World News
Ukraine: a helicopter crashes near a school in the Kiev region, 18 dead including the Minister of the Interior
Sylvie Claire / January 20, 2023
World News
Brazil: a man and his father suspected of ordering the murder of several members of their family, including three children
Eva Deschamps / January 20, 2023
-
Entertainment22 hours ago
The music world in mourning: two weeks after Jeff Beck, Anthony Topham, creator of the Yardbirds, dies
-
World News22 hours ago
At least two dead and five injured in a knife attack on a train in Germany
-
Entertainment3 days ago
If a creator’s behavior harms our community, we take action: YouTube sanctions Norman Thavaud
-
World News3 days ago
Plane crash in Nepal: first bodies returned to families
-
World News23 hours ago
London police officer admits 24 rapes and multiple assaults
-
Entertainment23 hours ago
Amber Heard agrees to pay Johnny Depp $1 million