The 2022 population statistics for Zhejiang province were released on Feb 22.

Zhoushan's permanent resident population was 1.17 million in 2022. The city had a birth rate of 0.38 percent, a death rate of 0.71 percent, and an urbanization rate of 73.2 percent.

The number of permanent residents in the city increased by 5,000 and the urbanization rate increased by 1.2 percent over 2021.

By the end of 2021, the birth rate of permanent residents in the city was 0.66 percent, the death rate was 0.76 percent, and the natural growth rate was -0.1 percent. The natural growth rate in 2022 maintained a downward trend at -0.33 percent.

Experts said that the decline can be attributed to a number of factors, including a decline in the population of women of childbearing age, later childbearing ages and the rising cost of having a child.

It is also related to economic and social factors such as population age structure, people's perceptions of fertility, fertility policy, public health and health literacy.