China's Total Population from 1990 to 2023

The chart reveals a dynamic yet gradually decelerating population growth over the past three decades. China's population rose from approximately 1.13 billion in 1990 to a peak of 1.41 billion in 2020. However, from 2021 onwards, the population began to stabilize and even show a slight decline, with 1.41 billion recorded in 2023.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, China experienced significant population growth, adding nearly 200 million people between 1990 and 2000. This can be attributed to the lagging effects of earlier high birth rates, despite the enforcement of the one-child policy in 1979. As the largest population globally, China was also witnessing substantial improvements in healthcare, living standards, and life expectancy during this period, contributing to a lower mortality rate.

However, the effects of China’s strict family planning policy started becoming more pronounced by the mid-2000s. Population growth began to decelerate, as reflected by the slower increase from 1.26 billion in 2000 to 1.33 billion in 2010. By 2015, China's leadership recognized the demographic challenges posed by an aging population and a shrinking workforce, leading to the relaxation of the one-child policy, allowing families to have two children.

Despite this policy shift, the population continued to grow at a slower pace and eventually plateaued in the early 2020s. In 2021, China's population stood at 1.41 billion, but the growth trajectory began to reverse slightly, with a modest decline to 1.41 billion in 2023. This decline marks the beginning of China's demographic challenges, where declining birth rates and an aging population are expected to put pressure on economic and social systems in the coming decades.