CHINA’S population fell by about 2 million last year, prompting experts to say that more attention should be paid to improving the quality of human resources and implementing fertility support measures.

The number of babies born last year went down by about 540,000 year-on-year to 9.02 million, according to data released Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics. With 11.1 million deaths recorded last year, the total population dropped by 2.08 million to around 1.41 billion.

The decrease in total population last year aligned with demographers’ predictions. Due to fewer women of childbearing age, a low willingness to have babies and delays in marriage — coupled with the effects of COVID-19 — China’s birthrate has been falling gradually.

“The general, long-term trend in China is that we will see a steady decline in total population,” said He Dan, director of the China Population and Development Research Center.

She said that the quality of the population is now a more important criterion than the number in assessing demographics. (China Daily)