China's birthrate has plunged, with the number of newborns in 2023 falling by 500,000, to about 9 million.
AdvertisementDecades of China's one-child policy have created a demographic nightmare for the world's second-largest economy, and millions of school teachers could soon be left without a job as birthrates tumble.
If those classes don't scale back, China could see a surplus of 1.5 million primary school teachers and 370,000 middle school teachers by 2035, according to a Tuesday report from the South China Morning Post.
Last year marked the second consecutive year that China's population shrank, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics.
Total primary school students, too, declined in 2022 for the first time in a decade.
Persons:
China's birthrate, —, it's
Organizations:
Service, South China Morning, country's National Bureau of Statistics, Education, China National Academy of Educational Sciences, Terry Group, Terry, UN
Locations:
China, Beijing, Hangzhou