Population growth in China 2000-2022

The graph shows the population growth in China from 2000 to 2022. In 2022, the Chinese population decreased by about 0.06 percent.

Declining population growth in China

Due to strict birth control measures by the Chinese government as well as changing family and work situations of the Chinese people, population growth has subsided over the past decades. Although the gradual abolition of the one-child policy from 2014 on led to temporarily higher birth figures, growth rates further decreased in recent years. As of 2021, leading countries in population growth could almost exclusively be found on the African continent and the Arabian Peninsula. Nevertheless, as of mid 2021, Asia ranked first by a wide margin among the continents in terms of absolute population.

Future development of Chinese population

The Chinese population reached a maximum of 1,412.6 million people in 2021 and decreased by 850,000 in 2022. As of 2021, China still ranked the world’s most populous country, but India followed closely and is expected to take over in 2023. Apart from the receding population growth, a clear growth trend in Chinese cities is visible. By 2022, more than 65 percent of Chinese people lived in urban areas, compared to merely 36 percent in 2000.