The death rate in China’s capital Beijing surpassed its birth rate in 2022, official data showed on Tuesday, pushing its natural population growth into negative territory for the first time since 2003, reports Reuters. The death rate in the city of 21.84 million, one of the country’s most populous urban centres, rose to 5.72 deaths per 1,000 people, while the birth rate fell to 5.67 births per 1,000 people, official statistics released by the Beijing government showed.
Beijing’s population decline was in line with national trends, with China’s population falling last year for the first time in six decades, weighed down by rising living costs especially in big, sprawling cities like Beijing, weak economic growth, and changing attitudes towards raising a family.
“These figures are expected, especially for Beijing,” said Xiujian Peng, senior research fellow at the Centre of Policy Studies at Victoria University in Australia.
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