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China posted a 2.9% increase in GDP in the fourth quarter, which translates to 3% growth for all of 2022, the lowest level in over 40 years, mainly as a result of the Covid-related problems. According to data released by the National Statistics Office, the change between the third and fourth quarters was zero on a cyclical basis.
China’s GDP grew 3% in 2022, marking one of its weakest performances in decades, mainly due to the impact of the draconian “zero tolerance” policy on Covid, the collapse of the real estate sector and weaker external demand. The figure, which is lower than the around 5.5% announced by the government last March, compared to +8.1% in 2021, the weakest reading since -1.6% in 1976, the year Mao died Zedong, excluding the increase of just over 2% in 2020 due to the emergence of Covid in Wuhan in late 2019.
China, population decline for the first time since 1961: – 850,000
Demographics are also declining in China: China’s population fell in 2022 for the first time in over 60 years, further emphasizing the issue of the demographic crisis affecting the world’s most populous nation. “At the end of 2022, the national population was 1,411.75 million,” the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing said, adding it estimated “a decrease of 0.85 million compared to the end of 2021.”
