According to forecasts of Chinese scientists, the country’s population will halve within 30 years

In just 30 years, China may face an unprecedented demographic collapse. The Chinese government is concerned about the rapid aging of the population and the sharply reduced birth rate. Recent census results give an even more pessimistic picture than expected. According to a study by the Xi’an University of Economics and Finance, based on these data and the general reluctance of young people to have children, the country’s population may halve by 2050.

For China, this is a wake-up call that has serious consequences for China’s status as a global superpower, although such a forecast includes a fair amount of assumptions. To motivate fertility in young families, China recently expanded the fertility policy from two allowed children to three. However, the study says that it is not the state ban that prevents couples from creating large families, but economic problems and lack of social support. There is also an acute shortage of state aid measures for pregnancy and child care in the country. Meanwhile, new census results say that today children make up 17% of China’s population, and people over 60 years old make up 18%. This is the first case in known history when the older group numerically outnumbers the younger one due to a drop in the birth rate, and, judging by the available data, it continues to decline.