Part 5/11:
An intriguing aspect of this crisis is the apparent disconnect between China’s population numbers and pork consumption. Despite having approximately 1.4 billion people, the amount of pork sitting unsold suggests that Chinese consumption is falling far below previous levels.
This raises a provocative question: Could China’s actual population be smaller than official figures? Or is the demand collapse a sign of a broader demographic decline, with fewer people eating three meals a day? The oversupply of pork and the unsold inventory point to potential overestimated population figures or shrinking real consumption capacity—factors that could undermine China’s economic apparent size based on traditional metrics.