China’s overall population dropped by 2.08 million to 1.40967 billion people last year, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said in a report, Paralel.Az reports citing TASS.

According to the report, 9.02 million babies were born in mainland China in 2023, while as many as 11.1 million Chinese people died. The birth and death rates amounted to 6.39 and 7.87 per 1,000 people, respectively.

The population aged between 16 and 59 years old accounted for 61.3% of the overall number, a 0.7 p.p. drop from 2022. The number of people aged 65 and above increased by 3.3% to 216.76 million.

In 2023, China’s urban population rose by 1.2% to 932.67 million people, while rural population fell by 2.8% to 477 million, according to the statistics.

In 2022, China saw a population decline of 850,000, its first in the past 60 years.