Reuters reported on 17 January 2024 that China’s population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023. The National Bureau of Statistics said the total number of people in China dropped by 2.08 million, to 1.409 billion in 2023. That was well above the population decline of 850,000 in 2022, which had been the first since 1961 during the Great Famine of the Mao Zedong era. Se article here – https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-population-drops-2nd-year-raises-long-term-growth-concerns-2024-01-17/
This could cause significant problems for China in the years ahead. Not only is its population shrinking, but it is also aging rapidly and its tertiary enrolment is risen considerably. Currently, its tertiary enrolment is more than 40%, which could result in a severe shortage is essential and lower-skilled labor. Read more about this in Chapters 2 and 8 of the book “The Age of Decay”