HONG KONG - After the government imposed harsh COVID-19 lockdowns and more than 250,000 migrant workers left, China's commercial capital Shanghai experienced its first population decline in five years in 2022, according to official data.

Shanghai's statistics bureau reported on Tuesday that there were 24.76 million people living there as of last year, down from 24.89 million in 2021.

The statistics from Shanghai came after Beijing also reported its first population decline since 2003.

Both cities follow the same patterns as the country. For the first time in 60 years, China's population fell last year as a result of rising living expenses, particularly in large, sprawling urban centers, slow economic growth, and shifting attitudes toward starting and raising a family.

According to a survey conducted by the bureau, about 60% of Shanghai residents said they wanted just one child or none at all. Because of the high cost of childcare, more than 28% of people in Shanghai who were surveyed said they had no plans to have more children.

Due to a rapidly aging population, Shanghai's birth rate fell to 4.4 per 1,000 people from 4.7 a year earlier, while its death rate rose to 6.0 per 1,000 people from 5.6.

With 6.77 births per 1,000 people in 2017, China's birth rate was at an all-time low.

Over the age of 65, the population of Shanghai is about 18.7% higher than the national average of 14.9%.

Demographers claim that the severe COVID lockdown that Shanghai experienced in April and May of last year discouraged many women from having children, which may have adversely affected their desire to do so.

Political advisors to the government have suggested more than 20 ways to increase birth rates because they are worried about China's declining population, but experts said the best they could do was slow the population decline.