China posts slowest population growth in decades

The growth of 5.4 percent over the past decade was the slowest since the 1960s, and comes alongside a sharp drop in the number of working-age people.

China imposed the policy in the late 1970s, forcing couples to have only one baby in a dramatic effort to slow population growth. The number of people aged between 15 and 59 dropped nearly seven percentage points, while those over 60 was up more than five percentage points. Ning Jizhe from China's statistics bureau said China's fertility policy had achieved "positive results" but conceded the ageing population "imposed continued pressure" on development.China's gender balance has also been skewed by the one-child policy and a centuries-old social preference for boys which prompted a generation of sex-selective abortions and abandoned baby girls.

Covid-19 "increased the uncertainty of everyday life and increased worries around hospitalised childbirth," he added.The average size of a family is now 2.62 people, census data showed, down from 3.10 people 10 years ago.In a stark sign of changing society, the urban population grew by 236.4 million.However, nearly 500 million now work in places other than their official household registration, known as the hukou, which can make it harder for families to access schools or healthcare.

The country conducts a census every decade to determine population growth, movement patterns and other trends, and the politically sensitive data plays a major role in government planning.

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