China's population shrinks for the first time since 1961

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's population fell last year for the first time since 1961, a historic turn that is expected to mark the start of a long period of population decline.

The country had 1.41175 billion people at at the end of 2022, compared with 1.41260 billion a year earlier, China's National Bureau of Statistics said.

(Reporting by Albee Zhang in Beijing and Farah Master in Hong Kong; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)