China’s economy slowed down in 2022

Last year, the Chinese economy expanded at its slowest annual rate of growth since 1976.

The country’s National Bureau of Statistics reported a drop from 8.1% in 2021 to 3% in 2022 — a number Wall Street says may even be overstated, per Axios.

What’s happening?

• The country faces a sagging housing market after years of speculative building and buying.
• Foreign investors have also been diversifying capital and their supply chains away from the country.

On top of all this, China’s recent covid wave and lockdown policies left many businesses inoperable for an extended timeframe.

This week, China announced its population shrank for the first time since 1961, declining by 850k people. As the country’s supply of young workers shrinks, it will need to find other ways to drive productivity to continue growing its economy.