Size of working population shrinking in China

LAST year, the number of people of working age in China, defined as those aged between 15 and 59, shrank by 3.45 million or 0.6% to 937.27 million compared to 2011, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in January.

This is the second time that the working age population, which accounts for 69.2% of the country's total population of 1.354 billion in 2012, has fallen. The working age population first showed a drop, of 0.1%, in 2011. The share of China's population 65 and above has also risen.