On Friday, Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics announced that China’s “working age” population—the 15 to 59 segment—totaled 937.27 million last year. That number, as large as it is, represents a decline of 3.45 million from 2011. Moreover, the workforce in 2012 comprised 69.2% of the population, 0.6% less than in 2011.
“In 2012 for the first time we saw a drop in the population of people of working age,” said Ma Jiantang, the NBS chief. “We should pay great attention to this.”
We certainly should.
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