ISTANBUL 

China's population fell for the third consecutive year in 2024, the data released on Friday showed, indicating that the trend is likely to continue in the world's second most populous country even faster in the coming years, as well as a shortage of working-age people.

Last year, the population in China decreased by 1.39 million, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

The data showed that the population of mainland China decreased from 1.410 billion in 2023 to 1.408 billion last year.

However, the number of newborns increased by 5.7% to 9.54 million from 9.02 million in 2023.

Last year, the world's second-most populous country recorded 10.93 million deaths, a 1.5% decrease from 11.1 million in 2023. The death rate fell from 7.87 per thousand to 7.76 per thousand.

According to the population distribution by age groups, the population aged 16 to 59, defined as working age, constituted 60.9% of the population (857.98 million), while the population aged 60 and over constituted 22% (310.31 million).

While the population growth rate has been decreasing since 2016, it is estimated to decline even faster in the coming years.

The government abandoned the "one-child" policy that had been in place since the 1980s, first increasing the limit to two children in 2016 and then adopting a law in 2021 allowing families to have three children.