China's working age population drops by 2.44 million

BEIJING: China's working-age population dropped by 2.44 million last year, the second straight year of decline, adding to woes for the Communist giant left with an elderly population of over 200 million.

The National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS) said today that the working-age population, which covers ages between 15 and 59 constituted 67.6 per cent of the country's total population in 2013, down 1.6 percentage points from 2012.

In 2012, China declared its first absolute drop in the working-age population in "a considerable period of time."

Those aged above 60 formed 14.9 per cent of the total population to 202.43 million; those aged above 65 constituted 9.7 per cent.

By the end of 2013, Chinese mainland's population stood at 1.361 billion, with a natural population increase rate of 0. 49 per cent, state-run news agency Xinhua said.

Almost 118 boys were born for every 100 girls. The urban population remained dominant with 53.73 per cent of the total population, up 1.16 percentage from a year earlier.

The long-term rural residents stood at 629.61 million at the end of 2013, down 12.61 million from the previous year.

The Gini coefficient for China peaked at 0.491 in 2008 before falling to 0.473 in 2013, a slight decrease from 0.474 in 2012.

The coefficient is a commonly used measure of income inequality, with a figure of 0 representing perfect equality and 1 total inequality. Some academics view 0.40 as a warning line.

China's population imbalances and wealth divide are among the major concerns for the ruling Communist Party.