By the end of the year, the total number of residents in the republic reached approximately 1.4 billion. Of these, about 716 million are men, and 688 million are women.
The age structure of the population shows that 60.6% of citizens (approximately 851 million people) are of working age, from 16 to 59 years old. The share of people over 60 years old is 23% (about 323 million), of which 15.9% (about 223 million) are individuals who have reached the age of 65.
This is already the fourth consecutive year that China's population has shown a negative trend. Experts attribute this trend to a low birth rate, an aging population, rising housing and education costs, as well as changing social views among the youth.
