China’s demographic collapse is accelerating. Births fell to a record low in China in 2023, speeding up its population decline. The potential economic drag prompted Chinese stocks to fall after the figures were announced on Wednesday, along with weak property data. 

This shift has serious implications for the country’s economic status. It stymies a 2020 forecast that China would soon surpass the US as the world’s largest economy. But it is not all bad news. Some sectors stand to benefit from Beijing’s new policies to cope with changing demographic trends.

The country’s population fell more than 2mn to 1.41bn last year, according to government data. The drop, which was more than double that of the previous year, results from both the lowest number of babies being born since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and the highest death rate since 1974.