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.

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.

Key information about China population

• The China population reached 1,408.3 million people in Dec 2024, compared with the previously reported figure of 1,409.7 million people in Dec 2023
• The data reached an all-time high of 1,412.6 million people in Dec 2021 and a record low of 541.7 million people in Dec 1949

• In the latest reports, China Unemployment Rate increased to 5.1 % in Sep 2024
• Monthly earnings of the China population was 1,392.5 USD in Dec 2023
• China Labour Force Participation Rate dropped to 66.4 % in Dec 2023

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.

The total population in China was estimated at 1409.7 million people in 2023, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics. This dataset provides - China Population - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

China Population Statistics: Sample Survey: Sampling Fraction data was reported at 0.105 % in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.102 % for 2022. China Population Statistics: Sample Survey: Sampling Fraction data is updated yearly, averaging 0.100 % from Dec 1982 (Median) to 2023, with 37 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 100.000 % in 2020 and a record low of 0.063 % in 1994. China Population Statistics: Sample Survey: Sampling Fraction 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: Level of Education.

China Population: Resided more than Half Year: Floating data was reported at 384,670.000 Person th in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 375,816.759 Person th for 2020. China Population: Resided more than Half Year: Floating data is updated yearly, averaging 239,015.000 Person th from Dec 1982 (Median) to 2021, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 384,670.000 Person th in 2021 and a record low of 6,709.164 Person th in 1982. China Population: Resided more than Half Year: Floating 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.

Social pull-push factors mainly fall into six categories: food, traffic, education, technology, health and medical conditions and human living conditions. Indicators of total grain product (Million tons), number of health agencies (units), number of beds in health care agencies (1000 beds), length of railways (10000 km), length of highways (10000 km), length of navigable inland waterways (10000 km), number of regular primary schools (units), number of higher education institutions (units), number of patent applications (units), per capita annual income of urban households (yuan), per capita annual income of rural households (yuan), Engel's coefficient of urban households (-), Engel's coefficient of rural households(-).Time serial data from 1949 to 2013 of whole China and all the provinces are included. All of data were collected from the China Statistical Yearbook from 1981 to 2014 and China Compendium of Statistics from 1949 to 2008.These data are not intended for demarcation.

CN: Population: Birth Rate: Guizhou data was reported at 1.074 % in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.065 % for 2023. CN: Population: Birth Rate: Guizhou data is updated yearly, averaging 1.397 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2024, with 35 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.309 % in 1990 and a record low of 1.065 % in 2023. CN: Population: Birth Rate: Guizhou 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: Birth Rate: By Region.

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 China County-Level Data on Population (Census) and Agriculture, Keyed To 1:1M GIS Map consists of census, agricultural economic, and boundary data for the administrative regions of China for 1990. The census data includes urban and rural residency, age and sex distribution, educational attainment, illiteracy, marital status, childbirth, mortality, immigration (since 1985), industrial/economic activity, occupation, and ethnicity. The agricultural economic data encompasses rural population, labor force, forestry, livestock and fishery, commodities, equipment, utilities, irrigation, and output value. The boundary data are at a scale of one to one million (1:1M) at the county level. This data set is produced in collaboration with the University of Washington as part of the China in Time and Space (CITAS) project, University of California-Davis China in Time and Space (CITAS) project, and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN).

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

households/individuals

Kind of data

Census

Frequency of data collection

Yearly

Sampling procedure

Sample size:

China immigration statistics for 2015 was 978,046, a 15.08% increase from 2010.

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

<li>China immigration statistics for 2010 was <strong>849,861</strong>, a <strong>25.17% increase</strong> from 2005.</li>
<li>China immigration statistics for 2005 was <strong>678,947</strong>, a <strong>33.64% increase</strong> from 2000.</li>
<li>China immigration statistics for 2000 was <strong>508,034</strong>, a <strong>14.89% increase</strong> from 1995.</li>
</ul>International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.

The demographic indicators of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan were compiled from (1) the World Bank United Nations (UN) Population Division, World Population Prospects: 2022 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) UN Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Program. The dataset consists of descriptive demographic statistics of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan and includes the following indicators: (1) total population, (2) population by broad age groups, (3) annual rate of population change, (4) crude birth rate and crude death rate, (5) annual number of births and deaths, (6) total fertility, (7) mortality under age 5, (8) life expectancy at birth by sex, (9) life expectancy at birth (both sexes combined), (10) annual natural change and net migration, (11) population by age and sex: 2101, (12) annual number of deaths per 1,000 population, and (13) annual number of deaths.

CN: Population: Birth Rate: Hubei data was reported at 0.538 % in 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.548 % for 2023. CN: Population: Birth Rate: Hubei data is updated yearly, averaging 1.074 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2024, with 35 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.160 % in 1990 and a record low of 0.538 % in 2024. CN: Population: Birth Rate: Hubei 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: Birth Rate: By Region.

The graph shows the population growth in China from 2000 to 2024. In 2024, the Chinese population decreased by about 0.1 percent or 1.39 million to around 1.408 billion people. Declining population growth in China Due to strict birth control measures by the Chinese government as well as changing family and work situations of the Chinese people, population growth has subsided over the past decades. Although the gradual abolition of the one-child policy from 2014 on led to temporarily higher birth figures, growth rates further decreased in recent years. As of 2024, leading countries in population growth could almost exclusively be found on the African continent and the Arabian Peninsula. Nevertheless, as of mid 2024, Asia ranked first by a wide margin among the continents in terms of absolute population. Future development of Chinese population The Chinese population reached a maximum of 1,412.6 million people in 2021 but decreased by 850,000 in 2022 and another 2.08 million in 2023. Until 2022, China had still ranked the world’s most populous country, but it was overtaken by India in 2023. Apart from the population decrease, a clear growth trend in Chinese cities is visible. By 2024, around 67 percent of Chinese people lived in urban areas, compared to merely 36 percent in 2000.

Population: Birth Rate: Beijing data was reported at 0.609 % in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.563 % for 2023. Population: Birth Rate: Beijing data is updated yearly, averaging 0.792 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2024, with 35 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.301 % in 1990 and a record low of 0.510 % in 2003. Population: Birth Rate: Beijing 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: Birth Rate: By Region.

China Fertility Rate of Childbearing Women: 1st Birth data was reported at 1.417 % in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.705 % for 2020. China Fertility Rate of Childbearing Women: 1st Birth data is updated yearly, averaging 2.232 % from Dec 1999 (Median) to 2021, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.170 % in 1999 and a record low of 1.417 % in 2021. China Fertility Rate of Childbearing Women: 1st Birth 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: No of Birth, Death, Natural Growth, Birth Rate, Death Rate and Natural Growth Rate, Life Expectancy, Dependency Ratio.

China Population: Female: Age 25 to 29 data was reported at 39.756 Person th in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 40.234 Person th for 2022. China Population: Female: Age 25 to 29 data is updated yearly, averaging 50.255 Person th from Dec 1982 (Median) to 2023, with 36 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 57,371.507 Person th in 2000 and a record low of 37.803 Person th in 2009. China Population: Female: Age 25 to 29 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.

Population: Census: Hainan: Haikou data was reported at 2,873.358 Person th in 12-01-2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,046.189 Person th for 12-01-2010. Population: Census: Hainan: Haikou data is updated decadal, averaging 2,046.189 Person th from Dec 2000 (Median) to 12-01-2020, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,873.358 Person th in 12-01-2020 and a record low of 830.192 Person th in 12-01-2000. Population: Census: Hainan: Haikou data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Haikou Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GE: Population: Prefecture Level City: By Census.