• China: population of major cities 2020

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This statistic depicts the estimated population figures in urban areas of first and new first tier cities of China as of 2020, by city. In 2020, around 27 million people were estimated to be living in the urban area of Shanghai. Shanghai was the largest city in China in 2020, followed by Beijing with around 20 million inhabitants.

Estimated population of first and new first tier cities in China in 2020, by city (in million inhabitants)

Characteristic	Population in millions
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Source

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Source

Release date

May 2018

More information

Region

Asia, China

Survey time period

2020

Supplementary notes

The methodology for accounting city population in China applied by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) varies from the administrative method generally applied by the National Bureau of Statistics of China. The UN DESA defines its calculation method by counting "population in all city districts meeting the criteria such as contiguous built-up areas, being the location of the local government, being a street or having a resident committee." In contrast, the National Bureau of Statistics of China normally counts all people living in the administrative units under the city in question as population of that city, even though some districts might be located in distant outskirts not closely connected to the city.

The selection of cities follows the definition of first and new first tier cities by Yicai Media Group.

Values have been rounded.