As of 2022, there were around 34.81 million registered residents in Shanxi, China and 51.1 percent of them were male. Shanxi is a province located in China's middle region, next to Hebei, Shaanxi, Henan and Inner Mongolia.

In 2024, there were around 719 million male inhabitants and 689 million female inhabitants living in China, amounting to around 1.41 billion people in total. China's total population decreased for the first time in decades in 2022, and population decline is expected to accelerate in the upcoming years. Birth control in China From the beginning of the 1970s on, having many children was no longer encouraged in mainland China. The one-child policy was then introduced in 1979 to control the total size of the Chinese population. According to the one-child policy, a married couple was only allowed to have one child. With the time, modifications were added to the policy, for example parents living in rural areas were allowed to have a second child if the first was a daughter, and most ethnic minorities were excepted from the policy. Population ageing The birth control led to a decreasing birth rate in China and a more skewed gender ratio of new births due to boy preference. Since the negative economic and social effects of an aging population were more and more felt in China, the one-child policy was considered an obstacle for the country’s further economic development. Since 2014, the one-child policy has been gradually relaxed and fully eliminated at the end of 2015. However, many young Chinese people are not willing to have more children due to high costs of raising a child, especially in urban areas.

The gender or sex ratio in China has been a contentious issue since the introduction of the one-child policy in 1979, intended to limit the population of the country. Although the policy is no longer in place, the population gender difference throughout the country is still evident. In 2023, fifteen to nineteen-year-old children had the largest gender disparity of 115.3 males to every 100 females. Gender imbalance While the difference of gender at birth has been decreasing in the country over the past decade, China still boasts the world’s most skewed sex ratio at birth at around 110 males born for every 100 females as of 2023. That means there are about 31 million more men in the country than women. This imbalance likely came from the country’s traditional preference for male children to continue the family lineage, in combination with the population control policies enforced. Where does that leave the population? The surplus of young, single men across the country poses a risk for China in many different socio-economic areas. Some of the roll-on effects include males overrepresenting specific labor markets, savings rates increasing, consumption reducing and violent crime increasing across the country. However, the adult mortality rate in China, that is, the probability of a 15-year-old dying before reaching age 60, was significantly higher for men than for women. For the Chinese population over 60 years of age, the gender ratio is in favor of women, with more females outliving their male counterparts.

The age distribution of China's population by five-year age groups in 2023 demonstrates that there are more females than males in the population for all age groups below 60 to 64 years. The largest gender difference exists for the younger age groups born between 2000 and 2010 when the one-child policy had been enforced most strictly.

In 2024, the sex ratio of the total population in China ranged at approximately 104.3 males to 100 females. Like most other sexual species, the sex ratio in humans tends to be one to one. But due to factors like sex selective abortions and different life expectancy between men and women, the sex ratio varies in different age groups. Gender imbalance in China China belongs to the countries with a very imbalanced sex ratio at birth. In 2023, the sex ratio in the population aging from 0 to 4 years old ranged at around 109 males to 100 females. The high gender inequality can be attributed to the traditional preference for male children in the Chinese society. Although gender identification before birth is not legally allowed in China, selective abortions due to gender preference still exist in many regions of China. The importance of gender equality Gender imbalance can lead to many social problems, like the difficulty of finding a partner. Additionally, a country might also get economic benefits from its gender equality. According to the Global Gender Gap Report which was conducted by the World Economic Forum in 2017, there could be a 2.5 trillion U.S. dollar increase in China’s GDP if the gender gap could be closed. As China’s one-child-policy was officially ended in 2015, the problem of selective abortion due to gender preference is also expected to be alleviated.

Population: Household Registration: Male: Guangxi: Guilin data was reported at 2,793.253 Person th in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 2,796.415 Person th for 2021. Population: Household Registration: Male: Guangxi: Guilin data is updated yearly, averaging 2,765.487 Person th from Dec 2010 (Median) to 2022, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,798.218 Person th in 2020 and a record low of 2,591.019 Person th in 2010. Population: Household Registration: Male: Guangxi: Guilin data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Guilin Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GE: Population: Prefecture Level City: Household Registration: By Sex.

Population: Household Registration: Male: Guangdong: Zhanjiang data was reported at 4,658.900 Person th in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 4,642.590 Person th for 2022. Population: Household Registration: Male: Guangdong: Zhanjiang data is updated yearly, averaging 4,453.650 Person th from Dec 2010 (Median) to 2023, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,658.900 Person th in 2023 and a record low of 4,121.600 Person th in 2010. Population: Household Registration: Male: Guangdong: Zhanjiang data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Zhanjiang Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GE: Population: Prefecture Level City: Household Registration: By Sex.

Population: Household Registration: Male: Guangdong: Chaozhou data was reported at 1,392.500 Person th in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1,397.068 Person th for 2022. Population: Household Registration: Male: Guangdong: Chaozhou data is updated yearly, averaging 1,389.550 Person th from Dec 2010 (Median) to 2023, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,400.500 Person th in 2020 and a record low of 1,321.100 Person th in 2010. Population: Household Registration: Male: Guangdong: Chaozhou data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Chaozhou Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GE: Population: Prefecture Level City: Household Registration: By Sex.

China Population: County: Male: Age 55 to 59 data was reported at 23.729 Person th in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 24.968 Person th for 2021. China Population: County: Male: Age 55 to 59 data is updated yearly, averaging 18.388 Person th from Dec 1982 (Median) to 2022, with 34 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 22,320.051 Person th in 2010 and a record low of 10.446 Person th in 1994. China Population: County: Male: Age 55 to 59 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Sample Survey: By Age and Sex: Rural.

Population: Household Registration: Male: Jilin: Songyuan data was reported at 1,367.200 Person th in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1,367.300 Person th for 2021. Population: Household Registration: Male: Jilin: Songyuan data is updated yearly, averaging 1,403.100 Person th from Dec 2010 (Median) to 2022, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,482.100 Person th in 2011 and a record low of 1,367.200 Person th in 2022. Population: Household Registration: Male: Jilin: Songyuan data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Songyuan Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GE: Population: Prefecture Level City: Household Registration: By Sex.

The statistic shows the distribution of the total population in China from 1950 to 2024, by gender. In 2024, about 51.06 percent of the Chinese population were male.

In 2024, the average number of children born per 1,000 people in China ranged at 6.77. The birth rate has dropped considerably since 2016, and the number of births fell below the number of deaths in 2022 for the first time in decades, leading to a negative population growth rate. Recent development of the birth rate Similar to most East-Asian countries and territories, demographics in China today are characterized by a very low fertility rate. As low fertility in the long-term limits economic growth and leads to heavy strains on the pension and health systems, the Chinese government decided to support childbirth by gradually relaxing strict birth control measures, that had been in place for three decades. However, the effect of this policy change was considerably smaller than expected. The birth rate increased from 11.9 births per 1,000 inhabitants in 2010 to 14.57 births in 2012 and remained on a higher level for a couple of years, but then dropped again to a new low in 2018. This illustrates that other factors constrain the number of births today. These factors are most probably similar to those experienced in other developed countries as well: women preferring career opportunities over maternity, high costs for bringing up children, and changed social norms, to name only the most important ones. Future demographic prospects Between 2020 and 2023, the birth rate in China dropped to formerly unknown lows, most probably influenced by the coronavirus pandemic. As all COVID-19 restrictions were lifted by the end of 2022, births figures showed a catch-up effect in 2024. However, the scope of the rebound might be limited. A population breakdown by five-year age groups indicates that the drop in the number of births is also related to a shrinking number of people with child-bearing age. The age groups between 15 and 29 years today are considerably smaller than those between 30 and 44, leaving less space for the birth rate to increase. This effect is exacerbated by a considerable gender gap within younger age groups in China, with the number of females being much lower than that of males.

The statistic shows the degree of adult literacy in China from 1982 to 2020. In 2020, the literacy rate, which is defined as people aged 15 and above who can read and write, had reached about 97.15 percent in China.

Global literacy rates

By 2020, around 86.8 percent of the world population aged 15 years and above had been able to read and write. While in developed regions this figure ranged a lot higher, only around 67 percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa was literate. Countries with the lowest literacy rates are also the most underdeveloped worldwide. According to UNESCO, literacy is a human right, especially in a fast-changing and technology-driven world. In China, the literacy rate has developed from 79 percent in 1982 to 97 percent in 2020, indicating that almost one million people per year had become literate over three decades. In India, the situation was entirely different. The second most populous country in the world displayed a literacy rate of merely 76 percent in 2022.

Literacy in China

The dramatic increase in literacy in China has a lot to do with the efficacy of numerous political, economic and educational policies. In 1982, compulsory education was written into the Chinese constitution, postulating a nine-year compulsory education funded by the government. As is shown by the graph above, there was a large gender gap in literacy rate in China as of 1982. Though this gap still existed in 2020, it was narrowed down to three percent, starting from 28 percent in 1982. Since 1990, the national education policy was directed at females, especially from poor and/or minority families. Over the past years, China has achieved gender parity in primary schooling.

However, regional literacy disparities in China should not to be overlooked. Regions with a strong economic background tend to display illiteracy rates below national average. In contrast, economically underdeveloped regions have a much larger share of people who cannot read nor write. Tibet for instance, a region where 92 percent of the population belong to an ethnic minority, showed the highest illiterate rate nationwide, with around 34 percent in 2022.

This statistic presents the smartphone user penetration rate (amongst mobile phone users) in China from 2013 to 2014 and also provides a forecast for the years 2015 to 2019. The forecast estimates that the smartphone penetration rate will reach about 53.3 percent by 2016.

China smartphone penetration – additional information

The number of smartphones sold worldwide has passed the one billion mark in 2014. More than one third of the world’s population is forecast to own a smartphone by 2017. China, one of the largest and fast-growing global economies, is anticipated to lead the global smartphone market, with over 30 percent of the share in 2017, followed by the U.S. with 12 percent.

In 2014, there were more than 480 million smartphone users in China. By 2019, this figure is forecast to total nearly 690 million. Smartphone users in China accounted for 43 percent of all mobile phone users in 2013. More than 60 percent of the Chinese mobile phone users are projected to use a smartphone by 2019. Smartphone users in China are fairly divided among genders. In 2014, 54 percent of the smartphone users in China were male and 46 were female. In terms of age, just over half of all smartphone users are young adults aged between 18 and 34 years old.

Samsung and Apple lead the smartphone market in China in 2015, with sales forecast to reach 65 million units and 36 million units, respectively. Google’s Android is the most popular operating system in China, with more than 70 percent of the share as of July 2015, followed by Apple’s iOS with nearly 25 percent.

人口数:户籍:男性:四川:泸州在12-01-2023达2,585.181千人，相较于12-01-2022的2,594.887千人有所下降。人口数:户籍:男性:四川:泸州数据按年更新，12-01-2010至12-01-2023期间平均值为2,620.500千人，共14份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2014，达2,635.000千人，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-2023，为2,585.181千人。CEIC提供的人口数:户籍:男性:四川:泸州数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于泸州市统计局，数据归类于中国经济数据库的社会人口 – Table CN.GE: Population: Prefecture Level City: Household Registration: By Sex。

In 2020, about 17.9 percent of the population in China had been 60 years and older. This share is growing rapidly and was estimated to reach 40 percent by 2050. China's aging population With China’s boomer generation growing old and life expectancy increasing at the same time, the number of people at an age of 60 or above nearly doubled between 2000 and 2020 and reached around 255 million. This development is even more pronounced for the age group of 80 and above, which nearly tripled and is expected to reach a size of roughly 132 million in 2050, up from only 32 million in 2020. At the same time, the share of the working-age population is forecasted to decrease gradually from 64 percent of the total population in 2020 to around 50 percent in 2050, which could pose a heavy economic strain on the social security system. The old-age dependency ratio, which denotes the relation of the old-age to the working-age population, is estimated to grow from 18.2 percent in 2020 to more than 50 percent in 2050, implying that by then, statistically, two working-age adults would have to support one elderly. Strain on the social security net During the last 15 years, China's government has successfully increased the coverage of the pension insurance and health insurance. Today, most of the people are covered by some kind of social insurance. Conditions in the pension system are generous, with a regular retirement age for males at 60 years and women at 50 or 55. With the number of retirees increasing quickly, the social insurance system is now under pressure. From an economic point of view, improving the productivity of China's economy would be the primary choice for mitigating alleged inconsistencies of the system. However, without increasing the burden on the working people while tightening payment conditions, balancing the social security net could prove to be challenging.

As of 2023, the bulk of the Chinese population was aged between 25 and 59 years, amounting to around half of the population. A breakdown of the population by broad age groups reveals that around 61.3 percent of the total population was in working age between 16 and 59 years in 2023. Age cohorts below 25 years were considerably smaller, although there was a slight growth trend in recent years. Population development in China Population development in China over the past decades has been strongly influenced by political and economic factors. After a time of high fertility rates during the Maoist regime, China introduced birth-control measures in the 1970s, including the so-called one-child policy. The fertility rate dropped accordingly from around six children per woman in the 1960s to below two at the end of the 20th century. At the same time, life expectancy increased consistently. In the face of a rapidly aging society, the government gradually lifted the one-child policy after 2012, finally arriving at a three-child policy in 2021. However, like in most other developed countries nowadays, people in China are reluctant to have more than one or two children due to high costs of living and education, as well as changed social norms and private values. China’s top-heavy age pyramid The above-mentioned developments are clearly reflected in the Chinese age pyramid. The age cohorts between 30 and 39 years are the last two larger age cohorts. The cohorts between 15 and 24, which now enter childbearing age, are decisively smaller, which will have a negative effect on the number of births in the coming decade. When looking at a gender distribution of the population pyramid, a considerable gender gap among the younger age cohorts becomes visible, leaving even less room for growth in birth figures.

The estimated population of the U.S. was approximately 334.9 million in 2023, and the largest age group was adults aged 30 to 34. There were 11.88 million males in this age category and around 11.64 million females. Which U.S. state has the largest population? The population of the United States continues to increase, and the country is the third most populous in the world behind China and India. The gender distribution has remained consistent for many years, with the number of females narrowly outnumbering males. In terms of where the residents are located, California was the state with the highest population in 2023. The U.S. population by race and ethnicity The United States is well known the world over for having a diverse population. In 2023, the number of Black or African American individuals was estimated to be 45.76 million, which represented an increase of over four million since the 2010 census. The number of Asian residents has increased at a similar rate during the same time period and the Hispanic population in the U.S. has also continued to grow.

In 2024, the mortality rate in China ranged at approximately 7.76 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. The mortality rate in China displayed an uneven development over the last two decades. This is mainly related to the very uneven sizes of Chinese age groups, improvements in health care, and the occurrence of epidemics. However, an overall growing trend is undisputable and related to China's aging population. As the share of the population aged 60 and above will be growing significantly over the upcoming two decades, the mortality rate will further increase in the years ahead. Population in China China was the second most populous country in the world in 2024. However, due to several mechanisms put into place by the Chinese government as well as changing circumstances in the working and social environment of the Chinese people, population growth has subsided over the past decades and finally turned negative in 2022. The major factor for this development was a set of policies introduced by the Chinese government in 1979, including the so-called one-child policy, which was intended to improve people’s living standards by limiting the population growth. However, with the decreasing birth rate and slower population growth, China nowadays is facing the problems of a rapidly aging population. Birth control in China According to the one-child policy, a married couple was only allowed to have one child. Only under certain circumstances were parents allowed to have a second child. As the performance of family control had long been related to the assessment of local government’s achievements, violations of the rule were severely punished. The birth control in China led to a decreasing birth rate and a more skewed gender ratio of new births due to a widely preference for male children in the Chinese society. Nowadays, since China’s population is aging rapidly, the one-child policy has been re-considered as an obstacle for the country’s further economic development. Since 2014, the one-child policy has been gradually relaxed and fully eliminated at the end of 2015. In May 2021, a new three-child policy has been introduced. However, many young Chinese people today are not willing to have more children due to high costs of raising a child, especially in urban areas.

The proportion of seats held by women in the national parliament in China increased by 1.6 percentage points (+6.42 percent) compared to the previous year. With 26.54 percent, the proportion thereby reached its highest value in the observed period. The proportion of seats held by women refers to the share of women that are present in a single or lower chamberFind more statistics on other topics about China with key insights such as share of total labor force working for the armed forces.