China population declines for second year running

China's population shrank in 2023 for the second year in a row cause of financial pressures and shifting social attitudes, official data showed on Wednesday.

China's population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023, as a plunging birth rate and a wave of COVID-19 deaths when strict lockdowns ended accelerated a downturn that will have profound long-term effects on the economy's growth potential.

Beijing's National Bureau of Statistics said the population was 1.409 billion at the end of 2023, a decrease of more than two million from the end of 2022.