Thank you Laura and team for the session.
Here is fertility rate chart

Except 5th place Pakistan and 6th place Nigeria, every body else is below replacement rate of 2.1 . Russia rate started to reduce after 2015 peak ( that is still less than 2 due all the sufferings of 90's). Even India and Bangladesh's fertility rate is less than 2.1 for almost decade or more. Little worse with Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico. United States rate is less than 2.1 like China for last 35 years.
C's reply of 'Closer to the latter figure' is interesting. While doing some research, I came across 3 numbers - 500 million, 800 million ( based on salt consumption ) and 1 Billion though I didn't mention of 1 billion in the question.(seek10) Can I ask a question? Some Anti-Chinese bloggers are claiming that the Chinese population has suddenly decreased, citing observations like empty streets. My question is: has the Chinese population reduced dramatically due to factors such as the one-child policy, which was implemented earlier and began reducing the fertility rate below the replacement level of 2.1 in the early 1990s, combined with the effects of COVID-19 and mass vaccinations over the past five years? Population projections suggested a decline starting in 2020, which coincided with the pandemic and vaccination campaigns. The claims vary. Some argue that the 30 years of low fertility rates have had a lasting impact, and that the Chinese government has been overestimating and inflating population figures for geopolitical reasons. Another narrative attributes the decline to COVID-19, with significant fatalities contributing to the reduction. So, what is the current population of China? Officially, it is reported to be 1.4 billion. However, some speculate it could be as low as 800 million, based on factors like salt consumption and other transactional data.
A: Closer to the latter figure.
Q: (seek10) It's 800 million.
(Niall) China's population is closer to 800 million. Officially it's 1.354 billion! That's insane.
(Joe) What's the actual figure, roughly speaking obviously? Is it closer to the latter? But does that mean it's... To the nearest hundred million.
A: Just under 1 billion.
- 800-900 million ( based on salt consumption )
- 1 Billion estimation is based on Govt. ID cards issued for people of age above 16 ( 776 million) and estimated 17 to 18% who are below of age 16( 240 million).
This is interesting. If Chinese can't figure out their population count, the probability of other developing large countries keeping track of their population much lower as the people's trust in govt. tend to be lower than developed nations to report birth and deaths. Even in developed nations, people doesn't report deaths unless there is some specific benefit. In developing nations like India, if there is govt. benefits they can get with the living person's identity (Aadhar card equivalent of US social security card), family may not even report. There were lot of news of deaths during covid ( mainly 2023 and 2024) in Indian social media outlets, it is hard to know whether they were counted or not.Q: (L) Is it because of COVID?
A: Yes
Q: (L) So more people have been dying... I mean, everybody's been having these outrageously high excess death rates everywhere. So one would imagine that they're having them also in China. Did China have a big vaccination program?
(Niall) Yes, Sinovac. An attenuated virus one.
(Joe) Was there an element to the original COVID virus that was released, made in a lab Fort Detrick, and released at the Wuhan military games in 2019, was there an element to that virus that was ethnic specific against Chinese?
A: Yes and no.
Q: (L) So was it an ethnic specific weapon?
A: Yes
Q: (L) Was it aimed against the Chinese?
A: Partly.
Q: (Joe) And who else?
A: Varied.
Q: (L) I don't think they want to talk about that because it's very slow and draggy. Was it aimed at white people?
A: Yes
Q: (Joe) It's half the global population almost.
(L) Well, I mean Caucasians and...
(Joe) Yeah, that's what I mean. Sounds like it was aimed at everybody.
(L) Caucasians and Orientals.
(Gaby) Eurasian descendants.
(L) Eurasian, yeah.
(Chu) And the Chinese didn't do the mRNA vaccine. So imagine the death toll if they had...
(Joe) What was the real death toll from this virus that was released, COVID-19, amongst the Chinese people. What was the total number of deaths within 10 million?
A: Millions though not classified as such.
Q: (Joe) Heart attacks, etc. So, the official population of China is 1.4 billion according to the Chinese government, but they're saying it's just under 1 billion. So we're not saying that 400 million people died of as result of covid. Right?
A: No
Q: (Joe) So the Chinese government has been lying about the official numbers.
A: Not exactly.
Q: (L) Maybe they just don't know.
A: Yes
Current population ( as per the search engine) is 8.23 billion. It means 1.2 billion is missing from govt. projection calculations. These are top 10 population countries accounted for 55% of the population. .4 billion missing is accounted in China. Given that my initial suspicion is based on the below replacement rate births for 3 decades in China, I wondered about the fertility rates for other countries in top 10. Current population given by AI of search engine.Q: (Niall) It's like the UK government. Does the UK government KNOW the real population is 90 million?
(Joe) What's the total number of people on the planet now then? What's the total number of people on the planet? What's the population of this planet? A human population, strictly speaking?
(Niall) To the nearest billion.
A: 7
Country | Population | % of world | Date |
India | 1,425,775,850 | 17.50% | |
China | 1,409,670,000 | 17.30% | |
United States | 337,704,271 | 4.13% | |
Indonesia | 278,696,200 | 3.41% | |
Pakistan | 229,488,994 | 2.81% | |
Nigeria | 216,746,934 | 2.65% | |
Brazil | 218,992,208 | 2.68% | |
Bangladesh | 168,220,000 | 2.06% | |
Russia | 147,190,000 | 1.80% | |
Mexico | 128,271,248 | 1.57% |

Except 5th place Pakistan and 6th place Nigeria, every body else is below replacement rate of 2.1 . Russia rate started to reduce after 2015 peak ( that is still less than 2 due all the sufferings of 90's). Even India and Bangladesh's fertility rate is less than 2.1 for almost decade or more. Little worse with Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico. United States rate is less than 2.1 like China for last 35 years.
If the Fertility rates decline over decades is an indication, these COVID vaccine REAL impact would be much much worse and we will only know in future.Q: (Niall) Seven? Interesting. They told us eight before COVID. Officially, it hadn't reached eight and they said it was eight already. So, yeah. The die-off is happening.
(Joe) There's been a reduction from the last time we asked that question. There's been a reduction of 1 billion people. Was that because a lot of people aren't actually having children?
A: Partly.
Q: (Joe) That plus COVID.
(L) And probably because a lot of people who might've wanted kids can't get pregnant because of the vaccines. The vaccines have blocked pregnancies or caused miscarriages.
(Niall) I think poverty went back up.
(L) Poverty, hunger, suicides, drugs.
(Joe) And governments, at least in the West... Are they aware of that reduction in the numbers and that's why they're promoting immigration policies?
A: At some levels.
Q: (L) Well, you know that. Some people know and some people don't.
(Joe) No, I know, but I'm just...
(L) "Government" is a pretty all-embracing term.
(Joe) Yeah, but it is a need in a certain sense. They realize that there's a fall off in population and they need to bring 'em in.
(L) Well, I don't think that's why they're bringing them in. That's replacement.
(Joe) You've read too much Twitter, Laura.