Demographics of China
| Demographics of China | |
|---|---|
Population pyramid of China for 2026 | |
| Population | 1,404,890,000 (31 December 2025) |
| Growth rate | −0.24% (2025 est.) (159th) |
| Birth rate | 5.63 births per 1,000 (2025 est.) |
| Death rate | 8.04 deaths per 1,000 (2025 est.) |
| Life expectancy | 79 years (2024) |
| • male | 76.0 years (2022) |
| • female | 81.3 years (2022) |
| Fertility rate | 0.93 children per woman (2025 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate | 6.76 deaths per 1000 live births (2022) |
| Age structure | |
| 0–14 years | 16.48% (male 124,166,174/female 108,729,429) |
| 15–64 years | 69.4% (male 504,637,819/female 476,146,909) |
| 65 and over | 14.11% (male 92,426,805/female 107,035,710) (2023 est.) |
| Sex ratio | |
| Total | 1.04 male to female (2024 est.) |
| At birth | 1.09 male to female (2024 est.) |
| Under 15 | 1.14 male to female (2024 est.) |
| 15–64 years | 1.06 male to female (2024 est.) |
| 65 and over | 0.86 male to female (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | |
| Major ethnic | Han Chinese (91.11%) |
| Minor ethnic | |
| Language | |
| Official | Standard Chinese |
| Spoken | Various; See Languages 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, with the lowest recorded birthrate since at least the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. China's population has a relatively small youth component, partially a result of the strict enforcement of China's one-child policy that was in effect from 1979 until 2015, which limited urban families to one child and rural families to two. As of 2022, Chinese state media reported the country's total fertility rate to be 1.09, one of the lowest in the world alongside South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Since 2022, deaths have outstripped births in the country.
According to the 2020 census, 91.11% of the population was Han Chinese, and 8.89% were minorities. China's population growth rate is -0.10%. China conducted its sixth national population census in 2010, and its seventh census was completed in late 2020, with data released in May 2021.
China faces the challenge of an aging population due to increased life expectancy and declining birth rates. This demographic shift has implications for social services and the labor force.