China: total population 1980-2029| Statista

Total population of China from 1980 to 2025 with forecasts until 2030 (in millions)

Characteristic	Population in millions
2030*	1,387.28
2029*	1,391.37
2028*	1,395.2
2027*	1,398.71
2026*	1,401.92
2025**	1,404.89
2024	1,408.28
2023	1,409.67
2022	1,411.75
2021	1,412.6
2020	1,412.12
2019	1,410.08
2018	1,405.41
2017	1,400.11
2016	1,392.32
2015	1,383.26
2014	1,376.46
2013	1,367.26
2012	1,359.22
2011	1,349.16
2010	1,340.91
2009	1,334.5
2008	1,328.02
2007	1,321.29
2006	1,314.48
2005	1,307.56
2004	1,299.88
2003	1,292.27
2002	1,284.53
2001	1,276.27
2000	1,267.43
1999	1,257.86
1998	1,247.61
1997	1,236.26
1996	1,223.89
1995	1,211.21
1994	1,198.5
1993	1,185.17
1992	1,171.71
1991	1,158.23
1990	1,143.33
1989	1,127.04
1988	1,110.26
1987	1,093
1986	1,075.07
1985	1,058.51
1984	1,043.57
1983	1,030.08
1982	1,016.54
1981	1,000.72
1980	987.05

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Release date

January 2026

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Region

China

Survey time period

1980 to 2025

Supplementary notes

* Estimate.
** Preliminary figure for 2025 published by the National Bureau of Statistics of China in January 2026. Former estimate by the IMF for 2025 was 1,405.88 million people.

Citation formats

According to latest figures, the Chinese population decreased by 3.39 million to around 1.405 billion people in 2025. After decades of rapid growth, China arrived at the turning point of its demographic development in 2022, which was earlier than expected. The annual population decrease is estimated to remain at moderate levels until around 2030 but to accelerate thereafter.

Population development in China

China had for a long time been the country with the largest population worldwide, but according to UN estimates, it has been overtaken by India in 2023. As the population in India is still growing, the country is very likely to remain being home of the largest population on earth in the near future. Due to several mechanisms put into place by the Chinese government as well as changing circumstances in the working and social environment of the Chinese people, population growth has subsided over the past decades, displaying an annual population growth rate of -0.2 percent in 2025. Nevertheless, compared to the world population in total, China held a share of about 17 percent of the overall global population in 2025.

China's aging population

In terms of demographic developments, the birth control efforts of the Chinese government had considerable effects on the demographic pyramid in China. Upon closer examination of the age distribution, a clear trend of an aging population becomes visible. In order to curb the negative effects of an aging population, the Chinese government abolished the one-child policy in 2015, which had been in effect since 1979, and introduced a three-child policy in May 2021. However, many Chinese parents nowadays are reluctant to have a second or third child, as is the case in most of the developed countries in the world. The number of births in China varied in the years following the abolishment of the one-child policy, but did not increase considerably. Among the reasons most prominent for parents not having more children are the rising living costs and costs for child care, growing work pressure, a growing trend towards self-realization and individualism, and changing social behaviors.