China: number of employed people 2022

The graph shows the number of employed people in China from 2012 to 2022. In 2022, the workforce in China amounted to around 733.5 million people. This was a decrease by 13 million compared to the previous year, which was most probably not only related to demographic decline but also to the coronavirus pandemic and weak economic performance.

Workforce in China

In 2022, China’s total population declined for the first time since 1961 and ranged at around 1.412 billion at the end of the year. This development is also reflected in the number of people in working age which has been shrinking since 2014. The labor force of China, which refers to the population aged 16 and over and capable of working, has been declining since 2016 and ranged at around 780 million in 2021. Out of the total number of employed people in 2022, about 459.3 million people were employed in urban areas, while 274.2 million people were working in rural areas.

Distribution of the workforce

Between 2011 and 2021, the share of the workforce employed in the primary sector declined significantly from 34.7 percent in 2011 to 22.9 percent in 2021, whereas the percentage of people employed in the tertiary sector increased. As of 2021, about 29.1 percent of Chinese workers were employed in secondary and 48 percent in tertiary industries. The share of the workforce employed in the secondary sector increased until 2012 but decreased thereafter due to China's shift towards a service driven economy. This trend has been interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, which led to increased industrial activities in 2021 and 2022.