The People's Republic of China is the second most-populous country in the world with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, only surpassed by India. China was the world's most populous country until it was surpassed by India in 2023.

In 2025, China's population officially stood at 1.404 billion, which was three million less than the previous year, with the lowest recorded birthrate since at least the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. China's population has a relatively small youth component, partially a result of the strict enforcement of China's one-child policy that was in effect from 1979 until 2015, which limited urban families to one child and rural families to two. , the country's total fertility rate was below 1.0, one of the lowest in the world alongside South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Since 2022, deaths have outstripped births in the country.

According to the 2020 census, 91.11% of the population was Han Chinese, and 8.89% were minorities. China's population growth rate is -0.10%. China conducted its sixth national population census in 2010, and its seventh census was completed in late 2020, with data released in May 2021.

Population Historical population

During 1960–2015, the population grew to nearly 1.4 billion. Under Mao Zedong, China nearly doubled in population from 540 million in 1949 to 969 million in 1979. This growth slowed because of the one-child policy instituted in 1979. The 2022 data shows a declining population for the first time since 1961.

China's population reached 1 billion in 1982, making it the first country to reach this milestone.

Censuses in China

The People's Republic of China conducted censuses in 1953, 1964, 1982, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. In 1987, the government announced that the fourth national census would take place in 1990 and that there would be one every ten years thereafter. The 1982 census (which reported a total population of 1,008,180,738) is generally accepted as significantly more reliable, accurate, and thorough than the previous two. Various international organizations eagerly assisted the Chinese in conducting the 1982 census, including the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, which donated US$100.0 million between 1980 and 1989 for a variety of projects, one of which being the 1982 census.

China was the world's most populous nation until being surpassed by India in 2023.

By the seventh census in 2020, the total population had reached to 1,419,933,142, with the mainland having 1,411,778,724, Hong Kong having 7,474,200, and Macau having 683,218. However, this number is disputed by obstetrics researcher Yi Fuxian, who argues that data related to population growth is inflated by local governments to obtain financial subsidies from the central government.

Population density and distribution

China is the second most populous country in the world and its overall population density is similar to those of countries like Denmark (excluding Greenland) or Ghana. However, the country's population density contains major regional variations. In 2002, about 94% of the population lived east of the Heihe–Tengchong Line; although this eastern area comprises only 43% of China's total land area, its population density, at roughly 280/km2, is comparable to that of Japan.

Broadly speaking, the population concentrates east of the Tibetan Plateau and south of the northern steppe. The most densely populated areas included the Yangtze River Valley (of which the delta region was the most populous), Sichuan Basin, North China Plain, Pearl River Delta, and the industrial area around the city of Shenyang in the northeast.

Population is most sparse in the mountainous, desert, and grassland regions of the northwest and southwest. In the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, portions are completely uninhabited, and only a few sections have populations denser than ten people per km2. The Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet autonomous regions and Qinghai and Gansu comprise 55% of the country's land area but in 1985 contained only 5.7% of its population. Area (km2) Population Density China 9,650,000 (100%) 1,411,778,724 (100%) 134.7/km2 5 provinces 5,246,400 (54.45%) 84,493,388 (5.98%) 15.16/km2 Inner Mongolia 1,183,000 (12.28% ) 24,049,155 (1.70%) 20.33/km2 Xinjiang 1,660,000 (17.23%) 25,852,345 (1.83%) 12.62/km2 Tibet 1,228,400 (12.75%) 3,648,100 (0.26%) 2.31/km2 Qinghai 721,000 (7.48%) 5,923,957 (0.42%) 7.65/km2 Gansu 454,000 (4.71%) 25,019,831 (1.77%) 57.65/km2 Other provinces 4,403,605 (45.55%) 1,327,285,336 (94.02%) 277.27/km2 Source: National Bureau of Statistics

+Population of China by province 1953–2020 Province orautonomous region Census 1953 Census 1964 Census 1982 Census 1990 Census 2000 Census 2010 Census 2020 number % number % number % number % number % number % number % Beijing Municipality 3,768,149 1.48 8,568,495 1.23 9,230,687 3.92 11,819,407 0.95 13,820,000 1.09 19,612,368 1.46 21,893,095 1.55 Hebei 35,984,644 6.18 49,687,781 6.58 53,005,876 5.26 61,082,439 5.39 67,440,000 5.33 79,854,202 5.36 74,610,235 5.28 Tianjin Municipality 2,693,831 0.46 7,764,141 0.77 8,785,402 0.77 10,010,000 0.79 12,938,224 0.97 13,866,009 0.98 Shanxi 14,314,485 2.46 18,015,067 2.59 25,291,389 2.51 28,759,014 2.54 32,970,000 2.60 35,712,111 2.67 34,915,616 2.47 Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region 6,100,104 1.05 12,348,638 1.78 19,274,279 1.91 21,456,798 1.89 23,760,000 1.88 24,706,321 1.84 24,049,155 1.70 Rehe (now defunct) 5,160,822 0.89 Liaoning 18,545,147 3.18 26,946,200 3.88 35,721,693 3.54 39,459,697 3.48 42,380,000 3.35 43,746,323 3.27 42,591,407 3.02 Jilin 11,290,073 1.94 15,668,663 2.26 22,560,053 2.24 24,658,721 2.18 27,280,000 2.16 27,462,297 2.05 24,073,453 1.71 Heilongjiang 11,897,309 2.04 20,118,271 2.90 32,665,546 3.24 35,214,873 3.11 39,890,000 2.91 38,312,224 2.86 31,850,088 2.26 Shanghai Municipality 6,204,417 1.06 10,816,458 1.56 11,859,748 1.18 13,341,896 1.18 16,740,000 1.32 23,019,148 1.72 24,870,895 1.76 Jiangsu 41,252,192 7.08 44,504,608 6.41 60,521,114 6.00 67,056,519 5.91 74,380,000 5.88 77,659,903 5.87 84,748,016 6.00 Zhejiang 22,865,747 3.92 28,318,573 4.08 38,884,603 3.86 41,445,930 3.66 46,770,000 3.69 54,426,891 4.06 64,567,588 4.57 Anhui 30,343,637 5.21 31,241,657 4.50 49,665,724 4.93 56,180,813 4.96 59,860,000 4.73 59,500,510 4.44 61,027,171 4.32 Fujian 13,142,721 2.26 16,757,223 2.41 25,931,106 2.57 30,097,274 2.65 34,710,000 2.74 36,894,216 2.75 41,540,086 2.94 Jiangxi 16,772,865 2.88 21,068,019 3.03 33,184,827 3.29 37,710,281 3.33 41,400,000 3.27 44,567,475 3.33 45,188,635 3.20 Shandong 48,876,548 8.39 55,519,038 7.99 74,419,054 7.38 84,392,827 7.44 90,790,000 7.17 95,793,065 7.15 101,527,453 7.19 Henan 44,214,594 7.59 50,325,511 7.25 74,422,739 7.38 85,509,535 7.54 92,560,000 7.31 94,023,567 7.02 99,365,519 7.04 Hubei 27,789,693 4.77 33,709,344 4.85 47,804,150 4.74 53,969,210 4.76 60,280,000 4.76 57,237,740 4.27 57,752,557 4.09 Hunan 33,226,954 5.70 37,182,286 5.35 54,008,851 5.36 60,659,754 5.35 64,440,000 5.09 65,683,722 4.90 66,444,864 4.71 Guangdong 34,770,059 5.97 42,800,849 6.16 59,299,220 5.88 62,829,236 5.54 86,420,000 6.83 104,303,132 7.79 126,012,510 8.93 Hainan 7,870,000 0.62 8,671,518 0.65 10,081,232 0.71 Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region 19,560,822 3.36 20,845,017 3.00 36,420,960 3.61 42,245,765 3.73 44,890,000 3.55 46,026,629 3.55 50,126,804 3.55 Sichuan 62,303,999 10.69 67,956,490 9.78 99,713,310 9.89 107,218,173 9.46 83,290,000 6.58 80,418,200 6.00 83,674,866 5.93 Chongqing Municipality 30,900,000 2.44 28,846,170 2.15 32,054,159 2.27 Guizhou 15,037,310 2.58 17,140,521 2.47 28,552,997 2.83 32,391,066 2.86 35,250,000 2.78 34,746,468 2.59 38,562,148 2.73 Yunnan 17,472,737 3.00 20,509,525 2.95 32,553,817 3.23 36,972,610 3.26 42,880,000 3.39 45,966,239 3.43 47,209,277 3.34 Tibet Autonomous Region 1,273,969 0.22 1,251,225 0.18 1,892,393 0.19 2,196,010 0.19 2,620,000 0.21 3,002,166 0.22 3,648,100 0.26 Xikang (now defunct) 3,381,064 0.58 Shaanxi 15,881,281 2.73 20,766,915 2.99 28,904,423 2.87 32,882,403 2.90 36,050,000 2.85 37,327,378 2.79 39,528,999 2.80 Gansu 12,093,600 2.06 12,630,569 1.82 19,569,261 1.94 22,371,141 1.97 25,620,000 2.02 25,575,254 1.91 25,019,831 1.77 Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region 1,506,200 0.26 2,107,500 0.30 3,895,578 0.39 4,655,451 0.41 5,620,000 0.44 6,301,350 0.47 7,202,654 0.51 Qinghai 1,676,534 0.29 2,145,604 0.31 3,895,706 0.39 4,456,946 0.39 5,180,000 0.41 5,626,722 0.42 5,923,957 0.42 Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 4,873,608 0.84 7,270,067 1.05 13,081,681 1.30 15,155,778 1.34 19,250,000 1.52 21,813,334 1.63 25,852,345 1.83 Military personnel 4,238,210 3,199,100 2,500,000 2,300,000 2,000,000 Population with permanent residence difficult to define 4,649,985 Total China 582,603,417 694,581,759 1,008,175,288 1,133,682,501 1,265,830,000 1,339,724,852 1,411,778,724

Structure of the population Census population of China by age and sex:

Population by Sex and Age Group (as of 1 November 2010). For statistical purposes, the data for China do not include those for Hong Kong and Macau. Data exclude 2.3 million servicemen, 4.65 million persons with permanent resident status difficult to define, and 0.12 per cent undercount based on the post enumeration survey: Age Group Male Female Total % Total 682,329,104 650,481,765 1,332,810,869 0–4 41,062,566 34,470,044 75,532,610 5–9 38,464,665 32,416,884 70,881,549 10–14 40,267,277 34,641,185 74,908,462 15–19 51,904,830 47,984,284 99,889,114 20–24 64,008,573 63,403,945 127,412,518 25–29 50,837,038 50,176,814 101,013,852 30–34 49,521,822 47,616,381 97,138,203 35–39 60,391,104 57,634,855 118,025,959 40–44 63,608,678 61,145,286 124,753,964 45–49 53,776,418 51,818,135 105,594,553 50–54 40,363,234 38,389,937 78,753,171 55–59 41,082,938 40,229,536 81,312,474 60–64 29,834,426 28,832,856 58,667,282 65–69 20,748,471 20,364,811 41,113,282 70–74 16,403,453 16,568,944 32,972,397 75–79 11,278,859 12,573,274 23,852,133 80–84 5,917,502 7,455,696 13,373,198 85–89 2,199,810 3,432,118 5,631,928 90–94 530,872 1,047,435 1,578,307 95–99 117,716 252,263 369,979 100+ 8,852 27,082 35,934 Age group Male Female Total Percent 0–14 119,794,508 101,528,113 221,322,621 15–64 505,329,061 487,232,029 992,561,090 65+ 57,205,535 61,721,623 118,927,158

Urbanization

Population policies

Initially, China's post-1949 leaders were ideologically disposed to view a large population as an asset. But soon afterwards, the leaders changed course. For one year, starting in August 1956, vigorous support was given to the Ministry of Public Health's mass birth control efforts. These efforts, however, had little impact on fertility. After the interval of the Great Leap Forward, Chinese leaders again saw rapid population growth as an obstacle to development, and their interest in birth control revived. In the early 1960s, schemes somewhat more muted than during the first campaign, emphasized the virtues of late marriage. Birth control offices were set up in the central government and some provincial-level governments in 1964. The second campaign was particularly successful in the cities, where the birth rate was cut in half during the 1963–66 period.

The one-child policy enjoyed much greater success in urban than in rural areas. Even without state intervention, there were compelling reasons for urban couples to limit the family to a single child. Raising a child required a significant portion of family income, and in the cities a child did not become an economic asset until he or she entered the work force at age sixteen. Couples with only one child were given preferential treatment in housing allocation. In addition, because city dwellers who were employed in state enterprises received pensions after retirement, the sex of their first child was less important to them than it was to those in rural areas.