SSC CHSL 2023 PYQ — Question 70

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

China and India together will account for more than a third of the estimated global population, which is expected to hit 8.045 billion by mid-year, according to the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) ‘State of World Population Report’ for 2023. But, contrary to public perception, population growth has been slowing in both countries – particularly in China, which recorded a population decline for the first time in six decades last year. China’s population fell in 2022 to 1.411 billion, down some 850,000 people from the previous year, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The birth rate also fell to a record low of 6.77 births per 1,000 people, down from 7.52 a year earlier and the lowest level since the founding of Communist China in 1949. Along with the flagging population data, China also reported one of its worst economic growth numbers in nearly half a century last year, underscoring the steep challenges the country faces as its labor force shrinks and the ranks of the retired swell. India’s working-age population stands at more than 900 million, according to 2021 data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This number is expected to hit more than 1 billion over the next decade, according to the Indian government. But these numbers could become a liability if policymakers do not create enough jobs, experts warned.