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Almost half the people in China, the world’s most populous nation, now live in cities and more than twice the numbers of Chinese students go to college compared to a decade ago. But new data reveals the second-largest economy is fast ageing as its population growth slows, sparking debate at home on
competition from a younger Indian workforce.
Census results released on Thursday put China’s population at 1.34 billion in 2010 with 73.9 million more people since 2000. India, which added 181 million in the last decade to hit 1.21 billion, will surpass the Chinese population size by 2025.
“China’s ageing population is increasing quickly while the birth rate remains low,” said chief statistician Ma Jiantang, referring to ‘tensions and challenges’ ahead.
China’s population growth slowed to an annual 0.57% during the last decade, down from 1.07% in the nineties. At the same time, the economy urbanised faster than ever before. China’s urban population now almost equals its rural population, with 49.7% living in cities, up 13.4% since 2000.
“China is now a society on its feet,” population expert Wang Feng at the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy in Beijing, told HT.
The lower birth rate and higher migration shrank average household size from 3.4 persons to 3.1. China’s family planning policy limiting urban families to one child and rural families to two children prevented about 400 million births since 1980. By 2020, when India is likely to contribute 136 million to the global labour force compared to China’s 23 million, the average Indian will be 29 and the average Chinese 37.
Chinese citizens above 60 years old constitute 13.26% of the population, up 3% from 2000. Chinese below 14 years make up 16.6% of the population, down 6.29%. “Fertility has dropped to an alarmingly low level, putting China at the level of Spain and close to Germany,” said Wang.
College-educated Chinese more than doubled in the last decade while people with only primary schooling is declining, giving China an advantage over India where a 74.04% literacy level is still lower than China’s 94%.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/China-population-1-3-bn-older-and-urban/Article1-690848.aspx
competition from a younger Indian workforce.
Census results released on Thursday put China’s population at 1.34 billion in 2010 with 73.9 million more people since 2000. India, which added 181 million in the last decade to hit 1.21 billion, will surpass the Chinese population size by 2025.
“China’s ageing population is increasing quickly while the birth rate remains low,” said chief statistician Ma Jiantang, referring to ‘tensions and challenges’ ahead.
China’s population growth slowed to an annual 0.57% during the last decade, down from 1.07% in the nineties. At the same time, the economy urbanised faster than ever before. China’s urban population now almost equals its rural population, with 49.7% living in cities, up 13.4% since 2000.
“China is now a society on its feet,” population expert Wang Feng at the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy in Beijing, told HT.
The lower birth rate and higher migration shrank average household size from 3.4 persons to 3.1. China’s family planning policy limiting urban families to one child and rural families to two children prevented about 400 million births since 1980. By 2020, when India is likely to contribute 136 million to the global labour force compared to China’s 23 million, the average Indian will be 29 and the average Chinese 37.
Chinese citizens above 60 years old constitute 13.26% of the population, up 3% from 2000. Chinese below 14 years make up 16.6% of the population, down 6.29%. “Fertility has dropped to an alarmingly low level, putting China at the level of Spain and close to Germany,” said Wang.
College-educated Chinese more than doubled in the last decade while people with only primary schooling is declining, giving China an advantage over India where a 74.04% literacy level is still lower than China’s 94%.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/China-population-1-3-bn-older-and-urban/Article1-690848.aspx
