By the numbers: There were 1.41175 billion people living in China at the end of 2022 — a drop of about 850,000 compared to the previous year's end, according to data from Beijing's National Bureau of Statistics Tuesday.
- A total of 9.56 million people were born in the country in 2022 and 10.41 million people died, per the NBS.
The big picture: The data comes as Beijing grapples with a surge in coronavirus deaths after shifting from its zero-COVID policy that saw restrictions including lockdowns weaken its economy and disrupt global supply chains.
Comment: Covid deaths have next to nothing to do with China's falling birth rate, the lockdowns and propaganda onslaught by the world's mainstream media might have, as it did in every other developed nation; Western nations saw birth rates plummet.
- Data from the NBS Tuesday showed China's economy grew 3% last year — well short of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's 5.5% target at the start of 2022.
Thought bubble, via Axios' Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian: This marks a clear inflection point that will slowly but dramatically change Chinese society and politics over the next few decades.
Comment: Partly in response to the falling birthrates, China is in attempting to discourage its people from opting for abortions, as is Russia. Meanwhile the West, as a whole, is pushing for even later-term abortions, and it's 'liberalising' its euthanasia laws. One exception to the Western trend is Hungary which has just unleashed a raft of measures encouraging families to have at least 3 children: