China’s population facing ‘largest absolute population loss’, UN says. Due to having fewer women of childbearing age, delays in people getting married, as well as the growing popularity of not having children altogether, China could experience about 50% population decline that is over half of its current population by the end of the century.
According to the United Nations’ 2024 World Population Prospects report, the current population of China is 1,418,365,894 billion could return to a size comparable to the late 1950s by 2100.
According to Worldometer’s reports, it is also estimated that China’s population (equivalent to 17.39% of the total world population) will reach 1,419,321,278 people by the end of 2024.
China “will likely experience the largest absolute population loss [of 204 million] between 2024 and 2054,” the report said, followed by Japan and Russia, whose potential losses stand at 21 million and 10 million, respectively.
According to the United Nations, India replaces China as the world’s most populous country in April last year, although official statistics are not available yet.
The global fertility rate stands at 2.25 live births per woman, while a replacement level of 2.1 live is required to maintain a stable population size.
The UN report estimated that Hong Kong and South Korea had the lowest levels of fertility in 2024, with an average below 0.75 births per woman.
Thus, the size of the world’s population in 2100 is expected to be 6 percent smaller – or about 700 million people fewer – than anticipated a decade ago,” the UN report said.
Meanwhile, the MPI published as the world marked the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, observed annually on 17 October, also revealed that over half of the world’s 1.1 billion poor are children under the age of 18, or 584 million. Globally, nearly 28 per cent of children live in poverty, compared with 13.5 percent of adults.
The report shows 5.3 million Afghans fell into multidimensional poverty in 2022-2023 and the data shows that nearly two-thirds of Afghans were poor.
Gaza face extreme hunger
In another report, over 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza are experiencing “extremely critical” levels of hunger, a UN assessment revealed.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has prioritised reactivating local food production and restoring the availability of highly nutritious food, especially as the winter season approaches.
“Humanitarian aid alone is not enough. People need fresh, nutritious food, FAO voiced. However, despite these challenges, humanitarian efforts continue.
Women and children hold bread in Baghlan, northern Afghanistan and people in Gaza face extreme levels of food insecurity, with families left with little to eat. File image credit WFP/Rana Deraz and UNICEF.
