Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/11127623

The National Bureau of Statistics said the total number of people in China dropped by 2.08 million, or 0.15%, 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.

  • Zworf@beehaw.org
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    10 months ago

    It’s kinda good for humanity to shrink a bit though. We can’t keep expanding as we will eventually run out of space and natural resources. Most western countries aren’t really growing in population anymore either and I think that’s a good thing. We’re already suffering the consequences of too high growth in the past. Not enough housing, resource constraints, pollution.

    Also, why spend your life raising babies if you can enjoy yourself. Yes, for some people that constitutes enjoyment, but not for everyone. Certainly not for me. Let them have at it. Humanity absolutely isn’t going to become extinct, plenty of people will want to have them. Not families of 6-10 anymore but that’s all good. It would actually be amazing if the world population declined a bit and stabilised at say 2 billion. Sustainability is not infinite growth but stability.

    The problem is the inverse demography pyramid, less young people to take care of the old. The boomers have this issue and China will now too. But at least this problem is temporary and the world will be much more sustainable with a lower birth rate. Reducing economic issues, less risk of conflict as resources aren’t quite as scarce per person, less CO2 emitted etc.