Total current population for China in 2025 is 1,424,381,924, a 0.06% decline from 2024.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>Total population for China in 2024 was <strong>1,425,178,782</strong>, a <strong>1.03% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>Total population for China in 2023 was <strong>1,410,710,000</strong>, a <strong>0.1% decline</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>Total population for China in 2022 was <strong>1,412,175,000</strong>, a <strong>0.01% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
</ul>Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.

According to latest figures, the Chinese population decreased by 1.39 million to around 1.408 billion people in 2024. After decades of rapid growth, China arrived at the turning point of its demographic development in 2022, which was earlier than expected. The annual population decrease is estimated to remain at moderate levels until around 2030 but to accelerate thereafter. Population development in China China had for a long time been the country with the largest population worldwide, but according to UN estimates, it has been overtaken by India in 2023. As the population in India is still growing, the country is very likely to remain being home of the largest population on earth in the near future. 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, displaying an annual population growth rate of -0.1 percent in 2024. Nevertheless, compared to the world population in total, China held a share of about 17 percent of the overall global population in 2024. China's aging population In terms of demographic developments, the birth control efforts of the Chinese government had considerable effects on the demographic pyramid in China. Upon closer examination of the age distribution, a clear trend of an aging population becomes visible. In order to curb the negative effects of an aging population, the Chinese government abolished the one-child policy in 2015, which had been in effect since 1979, and introduced a three-child policy in May 2021. However, many Chinese parents nowadays are reluctant to have a second or third child, as is the case in most of the developed countries in the world. The number of births in China varied in the years following the abolishment of the one-child policy, but did not increase considerably. Among the reasons most prominent for parents not having more children are the rising living costs and costs for child care, growing work pressure, a growing trend towards self-realization and individualism, and changing social behaviors.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Shanghai, China metro area from 1950 to 2025.

CN: Population: Usual Residence: Urbanization Rate: Tibet data was reported at 38.880 % in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 37.390 % for 2022. CN: Population: Usual Residence: Urbanization Rate: Tibet data is updated yearly, averaging 16.765 % from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2023, with 54 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 38.880 % in 2023 and a record low of 7.080 % in 1970. CN: Population: Usual Residence: Urbanization Rate: Tibet 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: Urbanization Rate.

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.

In 2020, the child and old-age dependency ratios in China ranged at around 25.9 and 18.2 percent respectively, summing up to a total dependency ratio of 44.1 percent. While the child dependency ratio is expected to drop slightly and then remain stable, the old-age dependency ratio will rise steadily in coming decades. Age demographics in China With a populace of 1.4 billion people by the end of 2023, China stands the country with the second largest population in the world. Since its foundation in 1949, the PRC has experienced high population growth. With the beginning of the reform period in the end of the 1970s, population growth decreased steadily. Finally, China's population size peaked in 2021 and entered a declining path. Falling birth rates in combination with higher life expectancy led to a continuously increasing median age of the population in China over the past five decades. The median age of the Chinese population is expected to rise further and to reach 50 years by the middle of the century. Development of the dependency ratio China has enjoyed a continuously growing work force since the late 1970s. Simultaneously, the total dependency ratio in China decreased from 80 percent in 1970 to about 37 percent in 2010. However, an important turning point was reached in 2011, as the total dependency ratio was set to increase again after 30 years of population bonus. As can be seen from the above graph, until 2100, child-dependency is estimated to remain steady around 15 to 20 percent. Old-age dependency on the other hand is expected to grow from about 12 percent in 2010 to 69 percent in 2060, implying a growing number of senior citizens that need support from the working population. The shift of age demographics in the near future in China is bound to have ineligible economical and social impacts. To learn more about age demographics in China, take a look at our dossier aging population in China.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Shenzhen, China metro area from 1950 to 2025.

According to the age distribution of China's population in 2024, approximately 68.6 percent of the population were in their working age between 15 and 64 years of age. Retirees aged 65 years and above made up about 15.6 percent of the total population. Age distribution in China As can be seen from this statistic, the age pyramid in China has been gradually shifting towards older demographics during the past decade. Mainly due to low birth rates in China, the age group of 0 to 14 year-olds has remained at around 16 to 17 percent since 2010, whereas the age groups 65 years and over have seen growth of nearly seven percentage points. Thus, the median age of the Chinese population has been constantly rising since 1970 and is forecast to reach 52 years by 2050. Accompanied by a slightly growing mortality rate of more than 7 per thousand, China is showing strong signs of an aging population. China's aging society The impact of this severe change in demographics is the subject of an ongoing scientific discussion. Rising standards of living in China contain the demand for better health care and pension insurance for retirees, which will be hard to meet with the social insurance system in China still being in its infancy. Per capita expenditure on medical care and services of urban households has grown more than ninefold since 2000 with a clear and distinctive upward trend for the near future. As for social security spending, public pension expenditure is forecast to take up approximately nine percent of China's GDP by 2050.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Chongqing, China metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Macau MO: Age Dependency Ratio: % of Working-Age Population: Old data was reported at 12.736 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 11.760 % for 2016. Macau MO: Age Dependency Ratio: % of Working-Age Population: Old data is updated yearly, averaging 9.673 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 12.736 % in 2017 and a record low of 8.159 % in 1970. Macau MO: Age Dependency Ratio: % of Working-Age Population: Old data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Macau SAR – Table MO.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Age dependency ratio, old, is the ratio of older dependents--people older than 64--to the working-age population--those ages 15-64. Data are shown as the proportion of dependents per 100 working-age population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Weighted average;

Macau MO: Population: Female: Ages 75-79: % of Female Population data was reported at 1.263 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.291 % for 2016. Macau MO: Population: Female: Ages 75-79: % of Female Population data is updated yearly, averaging 1.521 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.897 % in 1984 and a record low of 0.967 % in 1970. Macau MO: Population: Female: Ages 75-79: % of Female Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Macau SAR – Table MO.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population between the ages 75 to 79 as a percentage of the total female population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

Macau MO: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 65 and Above data was reported at 9.888 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 9.292 % for 2016. Macau MO: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 65 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 7.901 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.888 % in 2017 and a record low of 5.707 % in 1970. Macau MO: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 65 and Above data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Macau SAR – Table MO.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population 65 years of age or older as a percentage of the total female population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Weighted average; Relevance to gender indicator: Knowing how many girls, adolescents and women there are in a population helps a country in determining its provision of services.

Macau MO: Population: Male: Ages 10-14: % of Male Population data was reported at 3.436 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 3.402 % for 2016. Macau MO: Population: Male: Ages 10-14: % of Male Population data is updated yearly, averaging 8.895 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 17.360 % in 1970 and a record low of 3.402 % in 2016. Macau MO: Population: Male: Ages 10-14: % of Male Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Macau – Table MO.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Male population between the ages 10 to 14 as a percentage of the total male population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

Singapore Population: Mid Year: Residents: Chinese Female: 70 to 74 Years data was reported at 53.172 Person th in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 46.759 Person th for 2016. Singapore Population: Mid Year: Residents: Chinese Female: 70 to 74 Years data is updated yearly, averaging 26.136 Person th from Jun 1970 (Median) to 2017, with 39 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 53.172 Person th in 2017 and a record low of 9.343 Person th in 1970. Singapore Population: Mid Year: Residents: Chinese Female: 70 to 74 Years data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Singapore – Table SG.G001: Population: Mid Year.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Guangzhou, Guangdong, China metro area from 1950 to 2025.

China birth rate for 2025 is 10.31, a 1.6% decline from 2024.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>China birth rate for 2024 was <strong>10.48</strong>, a <strong>63.97% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>China birth rate for 2023 was <strong>6.39</strong>, a <strong>5.61% decline</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>China birth rate for 2022 was <strong>6.77</strong>, a <strong>9.97% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
</ul>Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.

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, about 60.9 percent of the Chinese population was between 16 and 59 years old. Apart from the information given on broad age groups in this statistic, some more information is provided by a timeline for the age distribution and a population breakdown by smaller age groups. Demographic development in China China ranked as the second most populous country in the world with a population of nearly 1.41 billion as of mid 2024, surpassed only by India. As the world population reached more than eight billion in mid 2024, China represented almost one fifth of the global population. China's population increased exponentially between the 1950s and the early 1980s due to Mao Zedong's population policy. To tackle the problem of overpopulation, a one-child policy was implemented in 1979. Since then, China's population growth has slowed from more than two percent per annum in the 1970s to around 0.5 percent per annum in the 2000s, and finally turned negative in 2022. China's aging population One outcome of the strict population policy is the acceleration of demographic aging trends. According to the United Nations, China's population median age has more than doubled over the last five decades, from 18 years in 1970 to 37.5 years in 2020. Few countries have aged faster than China. The dramatic aging of the population is matched by slower growth. The total fertility rate, measuring the number of children a woman can expect to have in her life, stood at just around 1.2 children. This incremental decline in labor force could lead to future challenges for the Chinese government, causing instability in current health care and social insurance mechanisms. To learn more about demographic development of the rural and urban population in China, please take a look at our reports on population in China and aging population in China.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Chengdu, China metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Macau MO: Population: Female: Ages 10-14: % of Female Population data was reported at 2.962 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 2.930 % for 2016. Macau MO: Population: Female: Ages 10-14: % of Female Population data is updated yearly, averaging 8.319 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 16.012 % in 1970 and a record low of 2.930 % in 2016. Macau MO: Population: Female: Ages 10-14: % of Female Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Macau – Table MO.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population between the ages 10 to 14 as a percentage of the total female population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;