Demographics of China

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. This decrease is linked to the country's very low birthrate, which has been one of the lowest in the world since the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Policies like the one-child policy, which limited families to one or two children from 1979 until 2015, have had a lasting effect on the number of young people.

According to the 2020 census, most of the population was Han Chinese, with minorities making up a smaller part. China is now facing the challenge of an aging population because people are living longer and fewer babies are being born. This change has important effects on services for older people and the workforce.

Population

Main article: Population history of China

Main article: Census in China

China has a very large population. In 2025, it had more than 1.4 billion people, though it was passed by India in being the most populous country in the world. In the past, China grew quickly, especially under a leader named Mao Zedong. But growth slowed down because of rules that limited how many children families could have.

China has had many counts of its people over the years, called censuses. These help leaders understand how many people live in different places. The counts show that China's population grew to nearly 1.4 billion between 1960 and 2015. By 2020, the number of people was around 1.4 billion, but some experts think the numbers might be too high.

People in China live mostly in the eastern part of the country, where it is easier to grow food and build cities. Areas in the west, like deserts and mountains, have fewer people. The busiest places include valleys and plains where many cities and farms are found.

Map of China's population density across third-level administrative divisions. Based on the results of the 2020 census.

		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 or autonomous region	Census 1953		Census 1964		Census 1982		Census 1990		Census 2000		Census 2010		Census 2020
Province or autonomous region	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	49,687,781	6.58	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	34,770,059	5.97	42,800,849	6.16	59,299,220	5.88	62,829,236	5.54	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

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	682,329,104	650,481,765	1,332,810,869	100%
0–4	41,062,566	34,470,044	75,532,610	5.67%
5–9	38,464,665	32,416,884	70,881,549	5.32%
10–14	40,267,277	34,641,185	74,908,462	5.62%
15–19	51,904,830	47,984,284	99,889,114	7.49%
20–24	64,008,573	63,403,945	127,412,518	9.56%
25–29	50,837,038	50,176,814	101,013,852	7.58%
30–34	49,521,822	47,616,381	97,138,203	7.29%
35–39	60,391,104	57,634,855	118,025,959	8.86%
40–44	63,608,678	61,145,286	124,753,964	9.36%
45–49	53,776,418	51,818,135	105,594,553	7.92%
50–54	40,363,234	38,389,937	78,753,171	5.91%
55–59	41,082,938	40,229,536	81,312,474	6.10%
60–64	29,834,426	28,832,856	58,667,282	4.40%
65–69	20,748,471	20,364,811	41,113,282	3.08%
70–74	16,403,453	16,568,944	32,972,397	2.47%
75–79	11,278,859	12,573,274	23,852,133	1.79%
80–84	5,917,502	7,455,696	13,373,198	1.00%
85–89	2,199,810	3,432,118	5,631,928	0.42%
90–94	530,872	1,047,435	1,578,307	0.12%
95–99	117,716	252,263	369,979	0.03%
100+	8,852	27,082	35,934
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	119,794,508	101,528,113	221,322,621	16.61%
15–64	505,329,061	487,232,029	992,561,090	74.47%
65+	57,205,535	61,721,623	118,927,158	8.92%

Population policies

Main article: Family planning policies of China

At first, leaders in China thought having many people was good. But later, they worried that too many people would make it hard for the country to grow. They started programs to help people have fewer children. These programs worked better in cities than in the countryside.

In the 2020s, China began trying new ways to help people have more children. These include giving money to families with more than one child, providing free clothes and toys for kids, and helping with childcare costs. In 2025, China even offered a yearly subsidy of 3,600 yuan to help families with young children. However, even with these changes, many people still choose to have fewer children because of high costs and other concerns.

Vital statistics

China population changes 1949 - 2022

China has a lot of people! In 2025, the country had about 1.4 billion people. This number is smaller than the year before, mostly because there were fewer babies born and more people getting older.

Some places in China have more babies than others. Cities usually have fewer babies than villages. For example, some areas had very few babies being born, while other places had more. Overall, the number of babies being born in China has been going down for many years. This is similar to what happened in other countries like Japan.

Years	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940
Total fertility rate in China	5.5	5.47	5.45	5.43	5.4	5.38	5.35	5.32	5.3	5.28	5.25

Years	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
Total fertility rate in China	5.15	5.06	4.96	4.86	4.77	5	5.2	4.91	5.54

	Year end population	Live births¹	Deaths¹	Natural change¹	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Crude migration rate (per 1000)	Total fertility rate
1949	537,371,000	19,345,000	10,747,000	8,598,000	36.0	20.0	16.0
1950	546,815,000	20,232,000	9,843,000	10,389,000	37.0	18.0	19.0	-1.4	5.29
1951	557,480,000	21,073,000	9,923,000	11,150,000	37.8	17.8	20.0	-0.5
1952	568,910,000	21,050,000	9,671,000	11,379,000	37.0	17.0	20.0	0.5
1953	581,390,000	21,511,000	8,139,000	13,372,000	37.0	14.0	23.0	-1.1
1954	595,310,000	22,604,000	7,846,000	14,758,000	37.97	13.18	24.79	-0.8
1955	608,655,000	19,842,000	7,474,000	12,368,000	32.60	12.28	20.32	2.1	5.98
1956	621,465,000	19,825,000	7,085,000	12,740,000	31.90	11.40	20.50	0.5
1957	637,405,000	21,691,000	6,884,000	14,807,000	34.03	10.80	23.23	2.4
1958	653,235,000	19,088,000	7,826,000	11,262,000	29.22	11.98	17.24	7.6
1959	666,005,000	16,504,000	9,717,000	6,787,000	24.78	14.59	10.19	9.4
1960	667,070,000	13,915,000	16,964,000	−3,049,000	20.86	25.43	−4.57	6.2	3.99
1961	660,330,000	11,899,000	9,403,000	2,496,000	18.02	14.24	3.78	-13.9	3.37
1962	665,770,000	24,640,000	6,671,000	17,969,000	37.01	10.02	26.99	-18.8
1963	682,335,000	29,593,000	6,851,000	22,742,000	43.37	10.04	33.33	-8.4	6.88
1964	698,355,000	27,334,000	8,031,000	19,303,000	39.14	11.50	27.64	-4.2
1965	715,185,000	27,091,000	6,794,000	20,297,000	37.88	9.50	28.38	-4.3	6.02
1966	735,400,000	25,776,000	6,494,000	19,282,000	35.05	8.83	26.22	2.0
1967	754,550,000	25,625,000	6,361,000	19,264,000	33.96	8.43	25.53	0.5
1968	774,510,000	27,565,000	6,359,000	21,206,000	35.59	8.21	27.38	-0.9
1969	796,025,000	27,152,000	6,392,000	20,760,000	34.11	8.03	26.08	1.7
1970	818,315,000	27,356,000	6,219,000	21,137,000	33.43	7.60	25.83	2.2	5.75
1971	841,105,000	25,780,000	6,157,000	19,623,000	30.65	7.32	23.33	4.5
1972	862,030,000	25,663,000	6,560,000	19,103,000	29.77	7.61	22.16	2.7
1973	881,940,000	24,633,000	6,209,000	18,424,000	27.93	7.04	20.89	2.2
1974	900,350,000	22,347,000	6,609,000	15,738,000	24.82	7.34	17.48	3.4
1975	916,395,000	21,086,000	6,708,000	14,378,000	23.01	7.32	15.69	2.1	3.58
1976	930,685,000	18,530,000	6,747,000	11,783,000	19.91	7.25	12.66	2.9
1977	943,455,000	17,860,000	6,482,000	11,378,000	18.93	6.87	12.06	1.7
1978	956,165,000	17,450,000	5,976,000	11,474,000	18.25	6.25	12.00	1.5
1979	969,005,000	17,268,000	6,018,000	11,250,000	18.21	6.21	11.87	1.6
1980	981,235,000	17,868,000	6,221,000	11,647,000	18.21	6.34	11.87	0.8	2.61
1981	993,885,000	20,782,000	6,321,000	14,461,000	20.91	6.36	14.55	-1.7
1982	1,008,630,000	21,260,000	6,653,000	14,607,000	22.28	6.60	15.68	-0.8
1983	1,023,310,000	18,996,000	7,223,000	11,773,000	20.19	6.90	13.29	1.3
1984	1,036,825,000	18,022,000	6,890,000	11,132,000	19.90	6.82	13.08	0.1
1985	1,051,040,000	21,994,000	7,087,000	14,907,000	21.04	6.78	14.26	-0.5	2.65
1986	1,066,790,000	23,928,000	7,318,000	16,610,000	22.43	6.86	15.57	-0.6
1987	1,084,035,000	25,291,000	7,285,000	18,006,000	23.33	6.72	16.61	-0.4
1988	1,101,630,000	24,643,000	7,315,000	17,328,000	22.37	6.64	15.73	0.5
1989	1,118,650,000	24,140,000	7,316,000	16,824,000	21.58	6.54	15.04	0.4
1990	1,135,185,000	23,910,000	7,570,000	16,340,000	21.06	6.67	14.39	0.4	2.43
1991	1,150,780,000	22,650,000	7,710,000	14,940,000	19.68	6.70	12.98	0.8
1992	1,164,970,000	21,250,000	7,740,000	13,510,000	18.24	6.64	11.60	0.7
1993	1,178,440,000	21,320,000	7,820,000	13,500,000	18.09	6.64	11.45	0.1
1994	1,191,835,000	21,100,000	7,740,000	13,360,000	17.70	6.49	11.21	0.2
1995	1,204,855,000	20,630,000	7,920,000	12,710,000	17.12	6.57	10.55	0.4	1.68
1996	1,217,550,000	20,670,000	7,990,000	12,680,000	16.98	6.56	10.42	0.1
1997	1,230,075,000	20,380,000	8,010,000	12,370,000	16.57	6.51	10.06	0.2
1998	1,241,935,000	19,420,000	8,070,000	11,350,000	15.64	6.50	9.14	0.5
1999	1,252,735,000	18,340,000	8,090,000	10,250,000	14.64	6.46	8.18	0.5
2000	1,262,645,000	17,710,000	8,140,000	9,570,000	14.03	6.45	7.58	0.3	1.45
2001	1,271,850,000	17,020,000	8,180,000	8,840,000	13.38	6.43	6.95	0.3
2002	1,280,400,000	16,470,000	8,210,000	8,260,000	12.86	6.41	6.45	0.3
2003	1,288,400,000	15,990,000	8,250,000	7,740,000	12.41	6.40	6.01	0.2
2004	1,296,075,000	15,930,000	8,320,000	7,610,000	12.29	6.42	5.87	0.1
2005	1,303,720,000	16,170,000	8,490,000	7,680,000	12.40	6.51	5.89	0	1.51
2006	1,311,020,000	15,850,000	8,930,000	6,920,000	12.09	6.81	5.28	0.3	1.50
2007	1,317,885,000	15,940,000	9,130,000	6,810,000	12.10	6.93	5.17	0.1	1.53
2008	1,324,655,000	16,080,000	9,350,000	6,730,000	12.14	7.06	5.08	0.1	1.55
2009	1,331,260,000	15,910,000	9,430,000	6,480,000	11.95	7.08	4.87	0.1	1.54
2010	1,337,705,000	15,920,000	9,510,000	6,410,000	11.90	7.11	4.79	0.1	1.54
2011	1,345,035,000	17,970,000	9,600,000	8,370,000	13.27	7.14	6.13	-0.7
2012	1,354,190,000	19,730,000	9,660,000	10,070,000	14.57	7.13	7.43	-0.6
2013	1,363,240,000	17,760,000	9,720,000	8,040,000	13.03	7.13	5.9	0.8
2014	1,371,860,000	18,970,000	9,770,000	9,200,000	13.83	7.12	6.71	-0.4
2015	1,379,860,000	16,550,000	9,750,000	6,800,000	11.99	7.07	4.93	0.9	1.57
2016	1,387,790,000	17,860,000	9,770,000	8,090,000	12.95	7.09	5.86	-0.1	1.70
2017	1,396,215,000	17,230,000	9,860,000	7,370,000	12.64	7.06	5.58	0.5	1.67
2018	1,402,760,000	15,230,000	9,930,000	5,300,000	10.86	7.08	3.78	0.9	1.55
2019	1,407,745,000	14,650,000	9,980,000	4,670,000	10.41	7.09	3.32	0.2	1.50
2020	1,411,100,000	12,020,000	9,970,000	2,050,000	8.52	7.07	1.45	0.9	1.30
2021	1,412,360,000	10,620,000	10,140,000	480,000	7.52	7.18	0.34	0.6	1.16
2022	1,411,750,000	9,560,000	10,410,000	−850,000	6.77	7.37	−0.60	0.2	1.07
2023	1,409,670,000	9,020,000	11,100,000	−2,080,000	6.39	7.87	−1.48	0.0	1.04
2024	1,408,280,000	9,540,000	10,930,000	−1,390,000	6.77	7.76	−0.99	0.0	1.13
2025	1,404,890,000	7,920,000	11,310,000	−3,390,000	5.63	8.04	−2.41	0.0	0.93

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	43.8	1985–1990	68.9
1955–1960	44.5	1990–1995	69.7
1960–1965	44.6	1995–2000	70.9
1965–1970	55.5	2000–2005	73.1
1970–1975	61.7	2005–2010	74.7
1975–1980	65.5	2010–2015	75.7
1980–1985	67.8	2023	78.6

Ethnic groups

For a more comprehensive list, see List of ethnic groups in China.

China officially recognizes 56 different ethnic groups. The largest group is the Han, making up 91.51% of the population in 2010. The remaining 8.49%, or about 113.8 million people, belong to ethnic minorities. These minority groups have grown faster than the Han population over the past decades. Their share of the total population has increased from 6.1% in 1953 to 8.49% in 2010. Some of the larger minority groups include the Zhuang, Manchu, Uyghur, Hui, Miao, Yi, Tujia, Mongols, Tibetan, Buyei, and Korean. Additionally, over 126,000 people from Canada, the US, and Europe live in China.

Maps of ethnic groups in China

Map of the [Han](/wiki/Han_Chinese) (91.11%), natives of [Inner China](/wiki/China_proper).

Map of the [Zhuang](/wiki/Zhuang_people) (1.39%), natives of [Guangxi](/wiki/Guangxi).

Map of the [Uyghurs](/wiki/Uyghurs) (0.84%), natives of [Xinjiang](/wiki/Xinjiang).

Map of the [Hui](/wiki/Hui_people) (0.81%), natives of [Ningxia](/wiki/Ningxia).

Map of the [Miao](/wiki/Miao_people) (0.79%).

Map of the [Manchus](/wiki/Manchu_people) (0.74%), natives of [Manchuria](/wiki/Manchuria).

Map of the [Yi](/wiki/Yi_people) (0.70%).

Map of the [Tujia](/wiki/Tujia_people) (0.68%).

Map of the [Tibetans](/wiki/Tibetans) (0.50%), natives of [Greater Tibet](/wiki/Tibet).

Map of the [Mongols](/wiki/Mongols_in_China) (0.45%), natives of [Inner Mongolia](/wiki/Inner_Mongolia).

Map of the [Bouyei](/wiki/Bouyei_people) (0.25%).

People from other immigration jurisdictions

The 2020 Census counted 371,380 residents from Hong Kong, 55,732 residents from Macau, 157,886 residents from Taiwan, and 845,697 residents from other locations, totaling 1,430,695 residents.

Population of China according to ethnic group in censuses 1953–2020
Ethnic group	Language family	1953	%	1964	%	1982	%	1990	%	2000	%	2010	%	2020	%
Han	Sino-Tibetan	547,283,057	93.94	651,296,368	94.22	936,703,824	93.30	1,039,187,548	91.92	1,137,386,112	91.53	1,220,844,520	91.60	1,286,310,000	91.11
Minority groups		35,320,360	6.06	39,883,909	5.78	67,233,254	6.67	90,570,743	8.01	105,225,173	8.47	111,966,349	8.40	125,470,000	8.89
Zhuang	Tai–Kadai	6,611,455	1.13	8,386,140	1.21	13,441,900	1.32	15,555,820	1.38	16,178,811	1.28	16,926,381	1.27	19,568,546	1.39
Uyghurs	Turkic	3,640,125	0.62	3,996,311	0.58	5,917,030	0.59	7,207,024	0.64	8,399,393	0.66	10,069,346	0.76	11,774,538	0.84
Hui	Sino-Tibetan	3,559,350	0.61	4,473,147	0.64	7,207,780	0.71	8,612,001	0.76	9,816,802	0.78	10,586,087	0.79	11,377,914	0.81
Miao	Hmong–Mien	2,511,339	0.43	2,782,088	0.40	5,017,260	0.50	7,383,622	0.65	8,940,116	0.71	9,426,007	0.71	11,067,929	0.79
Manchu	Tungusic	2,418,931	0.42	2,695,675	0.39	4,299,950	0.43	9,846,776	0.87	10,682,263	0.84	10,387,958	0.78	10,423,303	0.74
Yi	Sino-Tibetan	3,254,269	0.56	3,380,960	0.49	5,492,330	0.54	6,578,524	0.58	7,762,286	0.61	8,714,393	0.65	9,830,327	0.70
Tujia	Sino-Tibetan					284,900	0.03	5,725,049	0.51	8,028,133	0.63	8,353,912	0.63	9,587,732	0.68
Tibetans	Sino-Tibetan	2,775,622	0.48	2,501,174	0.36	3,821,950	0.38	4,593,072	0.41	5,416,021	0.43	6,282,187	0.47	7,060,731	0.50
Mongols	Mongolic	1,462,956	0.25	1,965,766	0.28	3,402,200	0.34	4,802,407	0.42	5,813,947	0.46	5,981,840	0.45	6,290,204	0.45
Buyei	Tai–Kadai	1,247,883	0.21	1,348,055	0.19	2,103,150	0.21	2,548,294	0.22	2,971,460	0.23	2,870,034	0.22	3,576,752	0.25
Dong	Tai–Kadai	712802		836123		1,446,190	0.14	2,508,624	0.22	2,960,293	0.24	2,879,974	0.22	3,495,993	0.25
Yao	Hmong–Mien	665933		857265		1,414,870	0.14	2,137,033	0.19	2,637,421	0.21	2,796,003	0.21	3,309,341	0.23
Bai	Sino-Tibetan	567119		706623		1,147,360	0.11	1,598,052	0.14	1,858,063	0.15	1,933,510	0.15	2,091,543	0.15
Hani	Sino-Tibetan	481220		628727		1,063,300	0.11	1,254,800	0.11	1,439,673	0.12	1,660,932	0.12	1,733,166	0.12
Korean	Koreanic	1,120,405	0.19	1,339,569	0.19	1,783,150	0.18	1,923,361	0.17	1,923,842	0.15	1,830,929	0.14	1,702,479	0.12
Li	Tai–Kadai	360950		438813		882,030	0.09	1,112,498	0.10	1,247,814	0.10	1,463,064	0.11	1,602,104	0.11
Kazakh	Turkic	509375		491637		878,570	0.09	1,110,758	0.10	1,250,458	0.10	1,462,588	0.11	1,562,518	0.11
Dai	Tai–Kadai	478966		535389		864,340	0.09	1,025,402	0.09	1,158,989	0.09	1,261,311	0.09	1,329,985	0.09
She	Hmong–Mien			234167		379,080	0.04	634,700	0.06	709,592	0.06	708,651	0.05
Lisu	Sino-Tibetan	317465		270628		466,760	0.05	574,589	0.05	634,912	0.05	702,839	0.05
Gelao	Tai–Kadai			26852		59,810	0.01	438,192	0.04	579,357	0.05	550,746	0.04
Dongxiang	Mongolic	155761		147443		279523	–	373,669	0.03	513,805	0.04	621,500	0.05
Gaoshan	Austronesian	329		366		1,750	0.00	2,877	0.00	4,461	0.00	4,009	0.00
Lahu	Sino-Tibetan	139060		191241		320,350	0.03	411,545	0.04	453,705	0.04	485,966	0.04
Sui	Tai–Kadai	133566		156099		300,690	0.03	347,116	0.03	406,902	0.03	411,847	0.03
Va	Mon–Khmer	286158		200272		271,050	0.03	351,980	0.03	396,610	0.03	429,709	0.03
Nakhi	Sino-Tibetan	143453		156796		248,650	0.02	277,750	0.02	308,839	0.02	326,295	0.02
Qiang	Sino-Tibetan	35660		49105		109,760	0.01	198,303	0.02	306,072	0.02	309,576	0.02
Tu	Mongolic	53277		77349		148,760	0.01	192,568	0.02	241,198	0.02	289,565	0.02
Mulao	Tai–Kadai			52819		91,790	0.01	160,648	0.01	207,352	0.02	216,257	0.02
Xibe	Tungusic	19022		33438		77,560	0.01	172,932	0.02	188,824	0.02	190,481	0.01
Kyrgyz	Turkic	70944		70151		108,790	0.01	143,537	0.01	160,823	0.01	186,708	0.01
Daur	Mongolic			63394		94126	–	121,463	0.01	132,143	0.01	131,992	0.01
Jingpo	Sino-Tibetan	101852		57762		100,180	0.01	119,276	0.01	132,143	0.01	147,828	0.01
Maonan	Tai–Kadai			22382		37,450	0.00	72,370	0.01	107,106	0.01	101,192	0.01
Salar	Turkic	30658		69135		68,030	0.01	82,398	0.01	104,503	0.01	130,607	0.01
Blang	Mon–Khmer			39411		58473	–	87,546	0.01	91,882	0.01	119,639	0.01
Tajik	Indo-European	14462		16236		27,430	0.00	33,223	0.00	41,028	0.00	51,069	0.00
Achang	Sino-Tibetan			12032		31,490	0.00	27,718	0.00	33,936	0.00	39,555	0.00
Pumi	Sino-Tibetan			14298		18,860	0.00	29,721	0.00	33,600	0.00	42,861	0.00
Ewenki	Tungusic	4957		9681		19,440	0.00	26,379	0.00	30,505	0.00	30,875	0.00
Nu	Sino-Tibetan			15047		25,980	0.00	27,190	0.00	28,759	0.00	37,523	0.00
Gin (Vietnamese)	Mon–Khmer					12,140	0.00	18,749	0.00	22,517	0.00	28,199	0.00
Jino	Sino-Tibetan					11,260	0.00	18,022	0.00	20,899	0.00	23,143	0.00
De'ang	Mon–Khmer					–	–	15,461	0.00	17,935	0.00	20,556	0.00
Bonan	Mongolic	4957		5125		6,620	0.00	11,683	0.00	16,505	0.00	20,074	0.00
Russian	Indo-European	22656		1326		2,830	0.00	13,500	0.00	15,609	0.00	15,393	0.00
Yugur	Turkic	3861		5717		7,670	0.00	12,293	0.00	13,719	0.00	14,378	0.00
Uzbek	Turkic	13626		7717		13,810	0.00	14,763	0.00	13,370	0.00	10,569	0.00
Monba	Sino-Tibetan			3809		1,040	0.00	7,498	0.00	8,923	0.00	10,561	0.00
Oroqen	Tungusic	2262		2709		2,280	0.00	7,004	0.00	8,196	0.00	8,659	0.00
Derung	Sino-Tibetan					4,250	0.00	5,825	0.00	7,426	0.00	6,930	0.00
Chinese Tatars	Turkic	6929		2294		7,510	0.00	5,064	0.00	4,890	0.00	3,556	0.00
Hezhen	Tungusic			718		670	0.00	4,254	0.00	4,640	0.00	5,354	0.00
Lhoba	Sino-Tibetan					1,030	0.00	2,322	0.00	2,965	0.00	3,682	0.00
Unrecognized						3,370,880	0.33	3,498	0.00	734,379	0.06	640,101	0.05
Unknown						4,720	0.00	752,347	0.07	–	–	–	–
Naturalized						–	–	–	–	941	0.00	1,448	0.00
Total China		582,603,417		694,581,759		1,008,175,288		1,133,682,501		1,242,612,226		1,332,810,869		1,411,778,724

Religions

Main article: Religion in China

Further information: Religion in Hong Kong and Religion in Macau

Mapping of religions in China and Taiwan

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Chinese ancestorism

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Chinese salvationist religions, Confucian churches and jiaohua movements

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Religions in each province, major city and autonomous region of China, according to the latest available data
Province	Chinese Folk Religion	Buddhism	Christianity	Islam
Fujian	31.31%	40.40%	3.97%	0.32%
Zhejiang	23.02%	23.99%	3.89%
Qinghai	—N/a	—N/a	0.76%	17.51%
Guangdong	43.71%	5.18%	0.68%
Yunnan	32.22%	13.06%	0.68%	1.52%
Guizhou	31.18%	1.86%	0.49%	0.48%
Jiangsu	16.67%	14.17%	2.67%
Jiangxi	24.05%	7.96%	0.66%
Shandong	25.28%	2.90%	1.54%	0.55%
Chongqing	26.63%	0.85%	0.28%
Hunan	20.19%	2.44%	0.49%
Shanxi	15.61%	3.65%	1.55%
Henan	7.94%	5.52%	4.95%	1.05%
Jilin	7.73%	8.23%	3.26%
Anhui	4.64%	7.83%	4.32%	0.58%
Gansu	3.51%	6.85%	0.28%	6.64%
Heilongjiang	7.73%	4.39%	3.63%	0.35%
Shaanxi	7.58%	6.35%	1.66%	0.4%
Liaoning	7.73%	5.31%	1.99%	0.64%
Sichuan	10.6%	2.06%	0.30%
Hubei	6.5%	2.09%	1.71%
Hebei	5.52%	1.59%	1.13%	0.82%
Hainan	—N/a	—N/a	0.48%

Beijing	—N/a	11.2%	0.78%	1.76%
Shanghai	—N/a	10.30%	1.88%	0.36%
Tianjin	—N/a	—N/a	0.43%

Tibet	—N/a	~78%	—N/a	0.39%
Xinjiang	—N/a	—N/a	1.0%	57.99%
Guangxi	40.48%	10.23%	0.15%
Ningxia	—N/a	—N/a	1.17%	33.99%
Inner Mongolia	2.36%	12.1%	2.0%	0.91%
China	16%	15%	2.5%	2% ^: 13

Demographic, political and socioeconomic characteristics of religious believers in six provinces, Yu Tao—CCAP—PU 2008
Religious community	% of population	% male	Average age in years	% agricultural households	% ethnic minority	% married	% Communist Party members	Average education in years	Annual family income in yuan
Traditional folk religion	31.09	64.8	46.46	96.4	1.1	94.6	9.8	5.94	29.772
Buddhism	10.85	54.4	49.44	95.8	0.0	92.1	9.8	5.88	38.911
Protestantism	3.54	47.7	49.66	89.2	4.6	96.9	4.6	5.83	24.168
Taoism	0.71	64.3	50.50	92.9	0.0	100	21.4	6.29	30.630
Catholicism	0.39	66.7	46.33	91.7	8.3	91.7	8.3	7.50	46.010
All religious	46.59	61.6	49.45	96.2	1.2	93.8	9.6	5.94	30.816
All non-religious	53.41	64.6	50.62	96.3	5.5	93.3	15.0	6.40	26.448

Religions by age group, CFPS 2012^: 17
Religion		30–40	40–50	50–60	60+
Buddhism	6.6%	7.9%	5.8%	6.0%	6.0%
Taoism	0.3%	0.4%	0.2%	0.4%	0.4%
Islam	0.3%	0.8%	0.5%	0.8%	0.4%
Christianity	1.5%	1.2%	2.5%	2.3%	2.9%
—Catholicism	0.3%	0.1%	0.6%	0.3%	0.3%
—Protestantism	1.2%	1.1%	1.9%	2.0%	2.6%
Other religion	0.2%	0.5%	0.7%	0.4%	0.7%
Traditional worship or "not religious"	91.0%	89.1%	90.3%	90.2%	89.6%

Religious self-identification of university students in Beijing (2011)

Not religious or other (80.3%)

Buddhism (7.00%)

Confucianism (4.00%)

Christianity (3.90%)

Taoism (2.70%)

Islam (2.10%)

Religious self-identification of participants of the cultural nationalist movement in the mainland (2011)

Confucianism (59.6%)

Buddhism (26.3%)

Taoism (4.10%)

Christianity (0.60%)

Don't know (9.40%)

Migration

Main articles: Immigration to China, Migration in China, and Chinese emigration

China has rules that control who can move into the country. These rules focus on safety and skills, and they do not make it easy for people without special skills to live there long-term. Since 2004, only about 12,000 people have been allowed to live in China permanently.

Many people also move inside China from rural areas to cities. This movement is one of the largest in the world. In 2011, there were about 253 million people who had moved to find work in different places. Some moved within their own provinces, while others moved to different provinces. By 2025, it's expected that almost 244 million more people will move to cities, making the urban population close to 1 billion.

In the past, many Chinese people left their country because of wars, lack of food, and other problems. These people, often with little education, went to work in places like the Americas, Australia, South Africa, and Southeast Asia.