China's population records second straight annual decline

Pace accelerates as dwindling workforce creates vexing policy challenges

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Experts say China's population peaked in 2021. © AP

CK TAN, Nikkei staff writer

SHANGHAI -- China's population declined in 2023 for the second consecutive year, weighing on the long-term growth prospects of the world's second-largest economy as the workforce shrinks.

Ongoing efforts to ease residential registration procedures and encourage families to have more children have not spurred population growth, the numbers show.

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