Data released on Wednesday showed a population of 1.409 billion at the end of 2023 - a 2.08m decrease from 2022, reported BBC.

Experts claim the reason behind the decline is the country's expanding urban class and record-low birth rate.

China said the birth rate has declined to 6.39 per 1,000 people, which is on par with other major nations like Japan and South Korea.

The country has seen falling birth rates for decades - after imposing a controversial one child-policy in the 1980s to control over-population at the time, BBC reported.

To tackle the problem of population fall, the government lifted the policy in 2015.

The government even introduced a series of other incentives to encourage people to start families.

"My husband and I do want to have a kid but we can't afford it for now," Wang Chengyi, a 31-year-old woman in Beijing, told BBC.

She told the British media that she and her partner needed to save money for another three years to provide for the costs of having a child - taking into account school expenses in particular.

"I do want to get pregnant while I'm young as it's better for my health. However, I just don't have enough money for now so I have to postpone. It's a shame and I feel panic over it sometimes," she said.