China faces growing gender imbalance. More than 24 million Chinese men of marrying age could find themselves without spouses by 2020, says the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The gender imbalance among newborns is the most serious demographic problem for the country's population of 1.3 billion, says the academy. It cites sex-specific abortions as a major factor, due to China's traditional bias towards male children. The academy says gender selection abortions are "extremely common". This is especially true in rural areas, and ultra-sound scans, first introduced in the late 1980s, have increased the practice. Forced prostitution The latest figures show that for every 100 girls born in China, 119 boys are born, the academy says in a new book. Researcher Wang Guangzhou, quoted by the Global Times newspaper, said the implications were that men in poorer parts of China may remain single throughout their life. "The chance of getting married will be rare if a man is more than 40-years-old in the countryside.
China's one-child policy - success or failure? 25 September 2010Last updated at 00:56 By Weiliang Nie BBC Chinese Service After three decades, the drawbacks of the one-child policy are more and more apparent During the period that I grew up in China in the 1960s and 70s, Chinese families could have as many children as they liked. Many had four or five children. Some even had six or seven. My parents had four children. Chairman Mao, who led China from 1949 until his death in 1976, regarded a fast-growing population as a productive force necessary for China to become a great power. He treated brutally those who dared to question him and believed that China should control its population.
His successor Deng Xiaoping started to reverse the trend. He felt the tremendous drag China's huge population had on its fragile economic recovery after years of political turmoil. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote The first children born under the one-child policy face the prospect of caring for an ever-increasing number of pensioners” End Quote. China reforms: One-child policy to be relaxed. 15 November 2013Last updated at 10:37 ET The one-child policy already exempts rural dwellers and ethnic minorities China is to relax its policy of restricting most couples to having only a single child, state media say. In future, families will be allowed two children if one parent is an only child, the Xinhua news agency said.
The proposal follows this week's meeting of a key decision-making body of the governing Communist Party. Other reforms include the abolition of "re-education through labour" camps and moves to boost the role of the private sector in the economy. Continue reading the main story Analysis Celia HattonBBC News, Beijing Though the scale of the Chinese leadership's new social and economic reforms are vast, affecting millions across China, none of these changes should come as a shock.
For example, in some Chinese cities for the past few years, couples who are both single children have been allowed the option of having a second child. Ageing population China's one-child policy. UK population grows by more than 400,000. 26 June 2014Last updated at 10:04 ET A quarter of the UK population growth was in London The population of the UK grew by more than 400,000 last year, according to the latest official figures.
The Office for National Statistics estimated there were 64.1 million people in the UK in June 2013, a rise of 0.63% on the previous year. Just over half of the growth was accounted for by natural change - births minus deaths - while net migration represented 46% of the rise. A quarter of the UK population growth was in London. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the British population grew more last year than in any other EU country. European average While there were 212,100 more births than deaths, the figures show 183,400 more immigrants arriving in the UK than emigrants leaving. Last year's growth was slightly below the average seen over the previous decade. The ONS said the UK population had increased by about five million since 2001 and by more than 10 million since 1964.
7 billion people and you: What's your number? Sources: All population data are based on estimates by the UN Population Division and all calculations provided by the UN Population Fund. The remaining data are from other sections of the UN, the Global Footprint Network and the International Telecommunications Union. Want to find out more? Visit the UN Population Fund's detailed population calculator, 7 billion and me. Notes on the data: Only birth dates after 1910 can be accommodated and only countries with populations of more than 100,000 people are included. Where available, the UN's medium variant and average figures from 2005-2010 have been used. World and country population clocks are estimates based on the latest UN figures and growth rates.
Three country groupings - developed, developing and least developed - featured in the conclusions are those referenced by the UN for assessing the Millennium Development Goals. Read the answers to frequently asked questions here.