China’s economy grew at one of the slowest rates in almost half a century – as the full impact of COVID-19 restrictions are laid bare.

The nation’s GDP rose three per cent in 2022 – much lower than the governments official target of 5.5%.

China’s population fell last year for the first time in six decades, a historic turn that is expected to mark the start of a long period of decline in its citizen numbers with profound implications for its economy and the world.

The country’s National Bureau of Statistics reported a drop of roughly 850,000 people for a population of 1.411 billion in 2022, marking the first decline since 1961, the last year of China’s Great Famine.

That possibly makes India the world’s most populous nation. U.N. experts predicted last year India would have a population of 1.412 billion in 2022 though they did not expect the South Asian nation to overtake China until this year.

India, however, only collects population figures every 10 years and its latest census, originally scheduled for 2021, has been delayed due to the pandemic.