China to conduct nationwide survey of demographic changes

By Alimat Aliyeva

From October 10 to November 30, China's National Bureau of Statistics will launch a nationwide sample survey to "accurately" track population changes and better plan economic and social policies while authorities struggle to stop the decline in the birth rate, Azernews reports

The bureau's statement says that the government intends to study age, ethnicity, education level, domestic migration status, place of residence, marital status, employment, availability of children and other indicators.

Beijing is urgently trying to take a number of measures to encourage young couples to have children after China experienced a population decline for the second year in a row in 2023, Reuters writes.

The rapid aging of the population is becoming an increasingly serious problem for policymakers: by 2035, China's population aged 60 and over is expected to increase by at least 40 percent to more than 400 million people.

In September, Chinese health officials said they would focus more efforts on promoting marriage and childbearing at the appropriate age, and called for separation of parental responsibilities to guide young people towards a "positive outlook on marriage, childbearing and family."

Many young Chinese prefer to remain childless because of the high costs of childcare, unwillingness to marry or postpone a career in a traditional society where women are still considered the main guardians and where gender discrimination is still widespread.

According to official data, the number of marriages in the first half of this year fell to the lowest level since 2013.

The last time China conducted a population census, which is conducted once a decade, was in November 2020. It showed that the population grew at the slowest rate since the first modern survey in the 1950s.