China’s Population Falls by 3.39 Million, Largest Drop Since 2022

China’s population fell by 3.39 million in 2025, the largest of four consecutive annual declines, underscoring the long-term demographic pressures facing the world’s second-largest economy.

The population stood at 1.40489 billion at year-end, according to the China Statistical Yearbook 2026, recently published by the National Bureau of Statistics. That was 7.71 million below its 2021 peak.