China is set to report its first-ever population decline since, the founding of The People’s Republic of China in 1949. This observation has been made despite the Chinese regime’s decision to abolish the state’s “One Child” Policy in 2015, allowing couples to have two children instead. The implementation failed to reverse and rectify the efforts of the world’s most populous country in reversing the trend of the ‘inverse population pyramid’.

The figures from the latest census conducted in December last year, are yet to be made public as the figure is treated as a piece of highly sensitive information and will be released only after multiple responsible agencies approach a consensus with respect to the figure.

The data was scheduled to be released by April 16^th. However, a spokesperson from the National Bureau of Statistics, Liu Aihua stated that the delay was partly due to the need for “more paperwork”.

The impact of the census is said to be of far–reaching consequence as China braces to be overtaken by India’s growing population estimated to be 1.38 Billion, close behind China’s estimated 1.4 Billion. This would be massively responsible for future economic plans which, will have to incorporate extensive elderly care for China’s projected boom in elderly population while the younger population marks a slow–down in growth.