China’s working-age population drops

China’s working-age population dropped 2.44 million to 919.54 million in 2013, the second straight year of decline, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.The working-age population, which covers ages between 15 and 59, took 67.6% of the country’s total population in 2013, down 1.6% from 2012.In 2012, China declared its first absolute drop in the working-age population in “a considerable period of time.”Those aged above 60 took 14.9% of the total population to 202.43 million; those aged above 65 took 9.7% of the total population.By the end of 2013, Chinese mainland’s population stood at 1.36072 billion, with a natural population increase rate of 0.492%.The long-term rural residents stood at 629.61 million at the end of 2013, down 12.61 million from the previous year. The long-term urban residents hit 731.11 million at the end of 2013, up 19.29 million from 2012The year 2012 saw 16.4 million births in China, with a birth rate of 1.208%, down 0.002% from 2012, according to the NBS.