CHINA’S population on the mainland reached 1.41178 billion in 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday, citing data from the seventh national census.
The figure does not include Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents and foreigners who live in the mainland’s 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, according to the NBS.
China's population on the mainland reaches 1.41178 billion in 2020 according to data from the seventh national census.Poster by Xinhua
The latest population figure increased 72.06 million, or 5.38 percent, compared with the 1.33972 billion recorded in the previous census conducted a decade ago.
This represents an average annual growth rate of 0.53 percent from 2010 to 2020. The rate was slightly lower than the average annual growth of 0.57 percent from 2000 to 2010.
“Data shows that China’s population has continued to maintain slow growth in the past decade,” Ning Jizhe, head of the NBS, told a press conference, adding that the country’s labor force remains abundant.
The State Council Information Office holds a press conference on the data of the seventh national population census in Beijing yesterday. Photos from Xinhua
He noted that the growth will be affected by factors such as the age structure, people’s ideas on having children, the government’s population policies, the cost of childbearing and parenting, medical service, and health conditions of the people.
Guangdong and Shandong were the most and second-most populous provinces in China, with a population of approximately 126 million and 101 million, respectively. They were also the only two provinces whose population exceeded 100 million each.
In 2020, Guangdong ranked first in the country in population increase with 21.7 million, while Shandong ranked fourth with 5.73 million.
China’s working-age population, or people aged between 16 and 59, stood at 880 million, according to Ning.
The average age of the Chinese population was 38.8, almost the same as the United States’ 38, he said.
People aged 60 and above accounted for 18.7 percent of the total population, 5.44 percentage points higher than the level in the 2010 census.
Senior people chat outside a community elderly care center at the Suzhou Industrial Park in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province on Dec. 1, 2020.
Gender ratio of the mainland population reached 105.07 males to 100 females. It was slightly down from 105.2 in 2010.
The population of ethnic minority groups increased 10.26 percent to 125.47 million from 2010, while that of Han Chinese grew 4.93 percent to 1.28631 billion, accounting for 91.11 percent of the total, the data showed.
The proportion of ethnic minority groups on the mainland population has risen to 8.89 percent, the data showed.
The proportion was up 0.4 percentage points from 2010, according to the data.
The urban population on the mainland totaled 901.99 million, representing 63.89 percent of the total. The proportion of urban population was 14.21 percentage points higher than the figure for 2010. The rural population stood at 509.79 million, down by 164.36 million from the 2010 figure.
Ning said the slight decrease in the annual growth rate was a result of mixed factors, including a continued drop in the number of women of childbearing age, couples delaying having children and the rising cost of childbearing and parenting.
“This is an objective outcome of China’s economic development, particularly as the country’s industrialization and urbanization reaches a certain stage,” he said, noting that it is a universal issue and particularly evident in developed countries.
But he expects China’s population to stay above 1.4 billion “for a certain period in the future,” citing positive factors that will continue to support future growth.
He attributed the basically steady growth over the past decade to China’s large population base, which has ensured more than 10 million newborns every year, as well as a shift to the two-child policy that resulted in a rebound in the number of births.
In 2020, China’s population aged between zero and 14 hit 253.38 million, an increase of 30.92 million from 10 years ago, or 1.35 percentage points in proportion to the total population, census data shows.
Tourists walk near a flower basket installation at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing on Sept. 24, 2020.
In response to its rapidly aging population, China allowed all married couples to have two children in 2016. This followed an earlier policy easing in 2013 that allowed couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child.
Ning said the sustained increase in life expectancy also contributed to population growth. In China, the annual number of deaths has never surpassed the annual number of births, due to improvements in people’s livelihoods and healthcare.
“China’s population will peak in the future, but there remains uncertainty as to when specifically it will happen,” Ning said.
“For the next stage, we should continue to pay attention to changes in population growth and respond actively to risks and challenges in demographic development,” he said.
China has made positive achievements in vigorously developing higher education and eliminating illiteracy among young adults over the past 10 years, Ning said.
The population who have received or are receiving college-level education reached 218.36 million. The number of people who have received or are receiving college-level education rose to 15,467 per 100,000 from the previous 8,930 per 100,000 in 2010, said Ning.
The illiteracy rate declined to 2.67 percent from 4.08 percent in the previous census conducted in 2010, while the average years of education for people aged 15 or above increased to 9.91 years from 9.08 years, according to the census.
The seventh census, the largest of its kind across the world, helps China figure out its population size, structure and distribution as well as the latest demographic changes and trends, according to the NBS.
A census taker (L) registers the residents' information of a household in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei Province on Nov. 5, 2020.
The latest census conducted last year is expected to offer strong statistical support for the country to advance high-quality development and formulate more targeted strategies and policies to promote long-term and balanced population development, the NBS said.
The census collected data including name, ID number, gender, marital status, education and profession of Chinese citizens.
Some 444,336 people had moved to the mainland for employment, 219,761 for education, and 419,517 for permanent residence. A total of 603,682 people not born in the mainland have lived here for over five years.
Editor/Li Jing, Liu Yangyang
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