China population: Guangdong suffers first decline in over 4 decades, underlining demographic and economic woes
- Guangdong’s resident population fell by 272,000 from a year earlier to 126.57 million, although it remained China’s largest province in terms of population
- UN Population Fund’s State of World Population report showed that India’s population will be 1.4286 billion by the middle of 2023 compared to China’s 1.4257 billion
China’s leading exporting province of Guangdong suffered its first population decline in over four decades last year, the latest sign of a demographic challenge that could reshape the country’s economic landscape.
The southern province said its resident population – people living in the region for more than six months – fell by 272,000 from a year earlier to 126.57 million, according to data released by the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Statistics earlier this month.
“[The population decline] is a phase of temporary return of out-of-province migrants to their hometowns following the impact of the 2022 Guangdong [coronavirus] pandemic surge,” the bureau said after recording the first decline since the start of the data in 1978.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the United Nations Population Fund’s State of World Population report showed that India’s population will be 1.4286 billion by the middle of 2023 compared to China’s 1.4257 billion.