BEIJING – The death rate in Beijing surpassed the birth rate in 2022, official data showed on Tuesday, pushing the Chinese capital’s natural population growth into negative territory for the first time since 2003.
The death rate in the city of 21.84 million, one of the country’s most populous urban centres, rose to 5.72 deaths per 1,000 people, while the birth rate fell to 5.67 births per 1,000 people, official statistics released by the Beijing government showed.
Beijing’s population decline was in line with national trends, with China’s population falling in 2022 for the first time in six decades, weighed down by rising living costs – especially in big, sprawling cities like Beijing – weak economic growth, and changing attitudes towards raising a family.
“These figures are expected, especially for Beijing,” said Dr Peng Xiujian, senior research fellow at the Centre of Policy Studies at Victoria University in Australia.
The birth rates in Beijing and other cities and the provinces are calculated based on the permanent residents, not including the migrant population, she said.
“Given the high living and education cost and education levels in Beijing, it is very normal that the birth rate of permanent residents is low,” Dr Peng said, adding that Beijing’s figures were consistent with the national average.
Early in December, a nationwide lifting of strict Covid-19 curbs triggered a wave of infections and caused an unknown number of deaths.
Beijing’s natural population growth was minus 0.05 per 1,000 people in 2022.
The data was based on a sample survey that began on Nov 1, 2022, according to a footnote in the statement, which did not specify how long the survey took.
China’s birth rate in 2022 was 6.77 births per 1,000 people, the lowest on record, while its death rate, the highest since 1974, was 7.37 deaths per 1,000 people.
Concerned by the nation’s shrinking population, political advisers to the government have come up with more than 20 recommendations to boost the birth rate, though experts say the best they can do is to slow the population’s decline. REUTERS
