China loses more than 40 mn workers in three years as population ages

China’s number of working people has fallen by more than 41 million in the past three years, reflecting both the coronavirus pandemic’s toll on the economy and a decline in the working age population.
 

Some 733.5 million Chinese people were employed in 2022, according to the country’s statistics bureau. That’s down from 774.7 million in 2019. The data reflects a rapid rise in the number of people retiring, likely raising pressure on Beijing to accelerate unpopular plans to raise official retirement ages.

The drop reflects factors such as higher youth unemployment due to the pandemic as well as a shrinking