Year-end population · 2025
1.405bn people
NBS national year-end population.
Population · size, structure and births
Population and urbanization
China ended 2025 with 1.40489 billion people and a resident-population urbanization rate of 67.89%. The same year recorded 7.92 million births and a birth rate of 5.63‰. This page places population size, age structure and births in one demographic-transition view while keeping birth rates, birth counts and revision boundaries distinct.
Urbanization rate · 2025
67.89%
Urban resident population: 953.8 million.
Birth population · 2025
7.92mn people
-17.0% year on year, using the January–December natural year.
Birth rate · 2025
5.63‰
The lowest value in this page’s current official series since 1978.
Population scale and urbanization
Population and urban residents, 2023–2025
Total population declined while the urban resident population continued to rise; the urbanization rate increased from 66.16% to 67.89%.
Source: NBS · 2025 Statistical Communique ↗ · All three years use NBS year-end population; urban population means resident population, not urban hukou population.chinainfigures.com
Age structure · 2025
Ages 16–59 are 60.6%; ages 60+ are 23.0%
The 65+ share, 15.9%, is a subset of the 60+ group and must not be added to the first three groups.
Source: NBS · 2025 Statistical Communique ↗ · Age boundaries follow the 2025 NBS communique exactly.chinainfigures.com
Long-run birth change
Population birth rate, 1978–2025
1978–2024 uses the current historical series in China Statistical Yearbook 2025; 2025 comes from the latest annual communique and remains a separate latest series.
Source: China Statistical Yearbook 2025 · Table 2-2 ↗ · NBS · 2025 Statistical Communique ↗ · Policy markers provide chronology only and do not claim a single-policy causal effect on annual birth rates.chinainfigures.com
Direct birth counts · natural year
Birth population and year-on-year change, 2021–2025
This preserves the useful “count + year-on-year” idea from your reference image but uses two separate coordinate panels so millions of people and percentages never share one y-axis.
Source: NBS · Natural-year definition ↗ · NBS · 2025 Statistical Communique ↗ · Only direct January–December annual-communique birth counts are used; the 2020 census/survey-period figure is not inserted into this series.chinainfigures.com
Why we do not reproduce a 1949–2025 birth-count bar chart
Early annual birth counts are not one clean current official series
NBS explains that the pre-1982 population statistical system and source base differ from later years and relied mainly on public-security hukou records. Population and birth-rate history can be queried, but a web-circulated annual birth-count table should not be presented as one current official exact series. This page therefore uses the current birth-rate history for the long run and direct annual communique counts for recent birth numbers.
NBS · Historical birth-count availability ↗Historical values can be revised
2016 and 2017 show why original releases and current history should not be mixed
After the Seventh Population Census, NBS stated that 2016 births were revised from the originally published 17.86 million to 18.83 million, and 2017 from 17.23 million to 17.65 million. A chart still using 17.86 and 17.23 million is therefore using an older vintage. This page does not splice those original releases into the current series.
NBS · Census-based historical revisions ↗How pre-1978 history remains visible
1962–1970 is an official retrospective birth-boom period
An NBS long-run population review describes 1962–1970 as the second rapid population-growth period after 1949: the birth rate peaked at 43.6‰ and average annual births were about 26.88 million during the period. These figures are used as period context rather than decomposed into an unverified current annual birth-count series.
Policy chronology
Universal two-child policy in 2016; three-child policy and support measures in 2021
Policy markers are shown only to orient the timeline. Annual births also reflect the number of women of childbearing age, marriage and fertility behavior, timing shifts and broader socioeconomic conditions; the page does not attribute annual turning points to one policy alone.
NBS · 75-year population review ↗Recent exact values
Natural-year birth population, 2021–2025
| Year | Birth population (mn) | Birth rate (‰) | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10.62 | 7.52 | — |
| 2022 | 9.56 | 6.77 | -10.0% |
| 2023 | 9.02 | 6.39 | -5.6% |
| 2024 | 9.54 | 6.77 | +5.8% |
| 2025 | 7.92 | 5.63 | -17.0% |
Downloads and revisions
Use the data and track changes
The page CSV retains years, units, source IDs, verification status and comparability warnings. Each chart also offers its current data as CSV, PNG or SVG.
Page data
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Includes registered formal points, available historical series and scalar derived metrics. UTF-8 encoded for spreadsheets and analysis tools.
Download CSV ↓Data file updated: 17 Aug 2026
Citation
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The title, latest formal data year and source organizations come from existing publication metadata; the access date and current page URL are added when you click.
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Public record
Revision and update timeline
Population page gains audited birth history
Expanded the population-and-urbanization indicator with the current NBS 1978–2024 yearbook birth-rate history, the 2025 annual-communique birth rate and direct 2021–2025 natural-year birth counts. Pre-1982 annual birth counts are not reconstructed; documented census revisions and the 2020 survey-period mismatch remain explicit.
Related sources: National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗ · National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗ · National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗ · National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗ · National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗ · National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗ · National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗ · National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗ · National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗ · National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗ · National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗
Sources and definitions registered; automated checks passed
Data downloads and revision timeline added
Added page-level formal-data CSV files, chart-level CSV/PNG/SVG exports and a bilingual revision timeline to all indicator pages.
Sources and definitions registered; automated checks passed
Indicator page published
Published population totals, urbanization and age structure with complete English and Chinese pages.
Related sources: National Bureau of Statistics of China ↗
Sources and definitions registered; automated checks passed