More countries grapple with shrinking, aging populations
BEIJING

A growing number of countries are confronting the dual challenges of population decline and aging, as younger generations opt to have fewer children and advances in healthcare extend life expectancy.
China said on Feb. 17 that its population fell for the third straight year in 2024, falling by almost 1.4 million to 1.41 billion.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's population has been falling for 15 years, while South Korea's growth turned negative in 2021.
In Italy, the number of births has fallen below 400,000 for the first time since the 19th century.
The population has peaked in 63 countries and territories, about half in Europe, the United Nations says. The U.N. projects another 48 will hit their peak over the next 30 years.
Globally, the population of 8.2 billion people is still growing, with the U.N. projecting it will reach 10.3 billion in roughly 60 years and then start to decline.
For many countries with shrinking populations, the slow-moving but hard-to-reverse trend has prompted governments to offer financial incentives to try to encourage people to have children to help support growing numbers of elders.
Japan has shrunk by 3 million people since 200.
Backed by the Vatican, a succession of Italian governments have vowed to address the social, economic and cultural reasons behind one of the world’s lowest birthrates.
The number of births has fallen steadily from about 577,000 in 2008 to 380,000 in 2023, the first year since Italy’s unification that the number fell below 400,000.
Studies say that's due to a combination of factors, including a lack of openings for affordable child care, low salaries and a tradition of women caring for older parents.