Population
1,397,897,720 (July 2021 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 1
Nationality
Noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
Adjective: Chinese
Ethnic Groups
Han Chinese 91.6%, Zhuang 1.3%, other (includes Hui, Manchu, Uighur, Miao, Yi, Tujia, Tibetan, Mongol, Dong, Buyei, Yao, Bai, Korean, Hani, Li, Kazakh, Dai, and other nationalities) 7.1% (2010 est.)
Note: The Chinese Government officially recognizes 56 ethnic groups.
Languages
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (official; Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry); note - Zhuang is official in Guangxi Zhuang, Yue is official in Guangdong, Mongolian is official in Nei Mongol, Uighur is official in Xinjiang Uygur, Kyrgyz is official in Xinjiang Uygur, and Tibetan is official in Xizang (Tibet).
Religions
Folk religion 21.9%, Buddhist 18.3%, Christian 5.2%, Muslim 2%, Hindu < 0.1%, Jewish < 0.1%, other 0.7% (includes Daoist (Taoist), unaffiliated 51.8% (2020 est.).
Note: Officially Atheist
Age Structure
0-14 years: 17.29% (male 129,296,339/female 111,782,427)
15-24 years: 11.48% (male 86,129,841/female 73,876,148)
25-5 years: 46.81% (male 333,789,731/female 318,711,557)
55-64 years: 12.08% (male 84,827,645/female 83,557,507)
65 years and over: 12.34% (male 81,586,490/female 90,458,292) (2020 est.)
Population Pyramid
Dependency Ratios
Total Dependency Ratio: 42.2
Youth Dependency Ratio: 25.2
Elderly Dependency Ratio: 17
Potential Support Ratio: 5.9 (2020 est.)
(Data do not include Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan)
Median Age
Total: 38.4 years
Male: 37.5 years
Female: 39.4 years (2020 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 62
Population Growth Rate
0.26% (2021 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 174
Birth Rate
11.3 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 169
Death Rate
8.26 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 77
Net Migration Rate
-0.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 122
Population Distribution
Overwhelming majority of the population is found in the eastern half of China; the west, with its vast mountainous and desert areas, remains sparsely populated; Even though ranked first in the world in total population, overall density is comparatively less than that of many other countries in Asia and Europe; High population density is found along the Yangtze and Yellow River valleys, the Xi Jiang River delta, the Sichuan Basin (around Chengdu), in and around Beijing, and the industrial area around Shenyang.
Urbanisation
Urban Population: 62.5% of total population (2021)
Rate of Urbanisation: 1.78% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030
(Note: Data do not include Hong Kong and Macau.)
Major Urban Areas - Population
27.796 million Shanghai, 20.897 million BEIJING (capital), 16.382 million Chongqing, 13.794 million Tianjin, 13.635 million Guangzhou, 12.592 million Shenzhen (2021)
Sex Ratio
At birth: 1.11 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.16 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.17 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female
Total population:1.06 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Maternal Mortality ratio
29 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 111
Infant Mortality Rate
Total: 11.15 deaths/1,000 live births
Male: 11.6 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 10.64 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 131
Life expectancy at Birth
Total population: 76.31 years
Male: 74.23 years
Female: 78.62 years (2021 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 107
Total Fertility Rate
1.6 children born/woman (2021 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 185
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate
84.5% (2017)
Drinking Water Source
Improved: Urban: 97.7% of population
Rural: 87.8% of population
Total: 92.8% of population
Unimproved: Urban: 2.3% of population
Rural: 12.2% of population
Total: 7.2% of population (2017 est.)
Current Health Expenditure
5.4% (2018)
Physicians Density
1.98 physicians/1,000 population (2017)
Hospital bed density
4.3 beds/1,000 population (2017)
Sanitation facility access
Improved: Urban: 97.1% of population
Rural: 82% of population
Total: 90.7% of population
Unimproved: Urban: 2.4% of population
Rural: 18% of population
Total: 9.3% of population (2017 est.)
Major Infectious Diseases
Degree of risk: High (2020)
Food or waterborne diseases: Bacterial diarrhea, Hepatitis A, and Typhoid fever.
Vectorborne diseases: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Japanese Encephalitis.
Soil contact diseases: Hantaviral hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).
Note: A new coronavirus caused an outbreak of respiratory illness (COVID-19) in China since December 2019; illness with this virus has ranged from mild to severe with fatalities reported. COVID-19 has reportedly spread across the globe and thus calling it a pandemic. Different variants have emerged since the outbreak.
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
6.2% (2016)
Country comparison to the world: 169
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
2.4% (2013)
Country comparison to the world:103
Education expenditures
3.5% of GDP NA (2018)
Country comparison to the world: 123
Literacy
Definition: Age 15 and over can read and write
Total population:96.8%
Male: 98.5%
Female: 95.2% (2018)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
Total: 14 years
Male: 14 years
Female: 14 years (2015)
People - note
In October 2015, the Chinese Government announced that it would change its rules to allow all couples to have two children, loosening a 1979 mandate that restricted many couples to one child; the new policy was implemented on 1 January 2016 to address China’s rapidly aging population and future economic needs.
(Source: The CIA World Factbook)