China's population started shrinking in 2022 for the first time since 1960.
9.56 million babies were born in 2022.
Bloomberg reports this is down 10.62 from 2021.
A total of 10.41 million people died, a slight increase from around 10 million recorded in recent years.
China had 1.41 billion people at the end of last year, 850,000 fewer than the end of 2021.
The decline in newborns was the main cause of the population contraction, according to Kang Yi, head of the National Statistics Bureau.
“That’s mainly a result of drop in people’s willingness to have babies, the delay in marriage and pregnancy, as well as a fall in number of women of child-bearing age,” Kang said.
