MacroBusiness co-founder Leith van Onselen says China’s declining population has been an issue “decades in the making” and the population will continue to decline for decades to come.

He said India will overtake China as the country with the highest population.

“What this means for Australia is China is our biggest export market and fewer people means fewer houses demanded,” he told Sky News host Andrew Bolt.

“That therefore means less demand for Australia’s iron ore and coking coal for example.”