China data questions answered
The 15 questions people search most about China's official figures, each answered from the body that publishes them, with a link to check the latest number yourself.
What is the population of China?
China's population was 1,404.89 million at the end of 2025, 3.39 million fewer than a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' Statistical Communiqué on the 2025 National Economic and Social Development, published on 28 February 2026. Of these, 953.80 million (67.9%) lived in cities and towns, and 223.65 million (15.9%) were aged 65 or over.
The figure covers the 31 mainland provinces, regions and municipalities and the armed forces; it excludes Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and foreign residents. The fall was the fourth in a row. A separate 2025 1% population sample survey put the population at 1,405.45 million on 1 November 2025; the year-end estimate and the survey use different reference dates and methods, so the two do not match exactly.
What is China's GDP and how fast is it growing?
China's GDP was 36.15 trillion yuan in April to June 2026, 4.3% higher in real terms than a year earlier, and 69.57 trillion yuan in the first half of 2026, up 4.7%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' preliminary GDP accounting for the second quarter, published on 16 July 2026. For 2025 as a whole, GDP was 140.19 trillion yuan and growth was 5.0%, according to the 2025 Statistical Communiqué.
China's headline growth rate compares a quarter with the same quarter a year earlier, unlike the quarter-on-quarter rates used in the US or Japan. Figures are preliminary and revised at the verification stage the following year. The third-quarter estimate is due in October; the NBS release calendar on its site gives the date.
What is the inflation rate in China?
Consumer prices in China were 0.8% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier, up from 0.5% in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' August 2026 CPI release, published on 9 September 2026. Food prices fell 1.4%, with pork down 11.8%, while non-food prices rose. Prices rose 0.4% on the month. Producer (factory-gate) prices rose 3.8% year on year.
For 2025 as a whole, the 2025 Statistical Communiqué reports consumer prices flat on the previous year. The CPI is published around the 9th to 15th of the following month. Annual rates are sensitive to food prices, especially pork, so the NBS also reports CPI excluding food and energy in its releases.
What is the interest rate in China?
China's one-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR) is 3.0% and the five-year-and-above LPR is 3.5%, as announced on 20 September 2026 by the National Interbank Funding Center under the authority of the People's Bank of China, in a notice published by the PBC. The rates apply until the next announcement.
The LPR is a reference rate quoted monthly by a panel of banks, normally on the 20th; most new loans are priced off it, and the five-year rate is the benchmark for mortgages. The People's Bank of China's main policy rate is a separate instrument, the seven-day reverse repurchase rate, and changes to it usually feed through to the LPR. The PBC's LPR page lists every monthly notice.
What is the yuan to dollar exchange rate?
The central parity rate of the yuan was 6.7298 yuan per US dollar on 13 October 2026, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System's central parity announcement, published on the People's Bank of China's website. The same notice set 7.4935 yuan per euro, 4.2411 yuan per 100 yen and 8.8707 yuan per pound.
The central parity is a daily reference rate set each morning; onshore trading in the yuan against the dollar is allowed within a band of 2% either side of it, so market rates during the day differ. The offshore yuan traded in Hong Kong can also differ from the onshore rate. Banks set their own retail buying and selling rates. Past notices are listed on the PBC's central parity page.
What is the unemployment rate in China?
China's surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.3% in August 2026, up 0.1 percentage points from July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' release on the national economy in August, published on 15 September 2026. The average for January to August was 5.2%, the same as a year earlier. The rate was 5.3% for workers with local household registration and 5.2% for migrant workers.
The figure comes from a monthly labour force survey in urban areas and does not cover rural employment. The NBS also publishes unemployment rates by age group, including for 16 to 24-year-olds excluding students; check which measure a claim uses. In 2025 the rate averaged 5.2% and ended the year at 5.1%, according to the 2025 Statistical Communiqué.
What is the birth rate in China?
China recorded 7.92 million births in 2025, a crude birth rate of 5.63 per 1,000 people, and 11.31 million deaths, a death rate of 8.04 per 1,000, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' 2025 Statistical Communiqué. The natural growth rate was minus 2.41 per 1,000, so the population fell.
The crude birth rate counts births per 1,000 people and is affected by the age structure; the total fertility rate, which estimates births per woman, was 1.01 in 2024 according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators. The NBS publishes births and the birth rate once a year, in its January economic release and the communiqué. Annual figures are estimates from the national sample survey on population change.
What is the average salary in China?
Employees of urban non-private units in China earned an average of 129,441 yuan in 2025, 4.3% more than in 2024, while those in urban private units earned 71,590 yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' 2025 average wage release, published on 15 May 2026. Across larger enterprises, the average was 106,080 yuan.
The two headline figures cover different employers: non-private units include state-owned enterprises, government bodies and many larger companies, while private units cover registered private businesses. Neither covers rural or informal work, and both are averages pulled up by high earners. Wages vary widely by region: the non-private average was 149,902 yuan in the east and 102,645 yuan in central provinces. Average monthly pay is roughly the annual figure divided by 12.
What is the average income per person in China?
Per capita disposable income in China was 43,377 yuan in 2025, 5.0% higher than in 2024 in both nominal and real terms, and the median was 36,231 yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' 2025 Statistical Communiqué. Urban residents averaged 56,502 yuan.
Disposable income is what households have after taxes and social contributions, divided by everyone in the household, including children and retirees, so it is much lower than average wages. It comes from the national household survey, which the NBS also publishes quarterly. The mean is above the median because incomes are unevenly distributed. Rural residents' income is published separately in the same release.
Are house prices falling in China?
New home prices in August 2026 were lower than a year earlier in most large cities and higher in a few, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' 70-city house price index for August 2026, published on 15 September 2026. Year on year, new home prices were down 2.3% in Beijing and Shenzhen and 1.9% in Guangzhou, and up 3.0% in Shanghai and 2.2% in Hangzhou.
The index measures price changes for newly built commercial homes and, separately, second-hand homes in 70 cities, using a comparison base of the previous month and the same month a year earlier; it is not an average price in yuan. It is compiled from online-registered contracts for new homes and from agencies and surveys for resales. National sales and investment figures are in the separate monthly real estate release.
What did China's 2025 population sample survey find?
China's population was 1,405.45 million on 1 November 2025, with 51.03% men and 48.97% women, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' bulletin on the 2025 national 1% population sample survey, published on 22 May 2026. People aged 60 and over numbered 321.22 million (22.86%), and 15.87% were aged 65 or over. Some 67.74% lived in urban areas, and the average household had 2.52 people.
The survey is held midway between the ten-yearly censuses (the last full census was in 2020) and covered 20.52 million people, 1.46% of the population; figures are estimates scaled up from that sample. A post-survey quality check found a net under-count of 0.72%, which is included in the totals. It counts mainland residents and the armed forces, not Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan.
How many migrant workers are there in China?
China had 301.15 million rural migrant workers in 2025, 0.5% more than a year earlier, of whom 180.06 million worked outside their home area, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' 2025 Statistical Communiqué. The 2025 1% population sample survey counted 357.88 million people living away from their place of household registration on 1 November 2025.
The two figures measure different things. Migrant workers are rural-registered people working in non-farm jobs, including those working locally. The 'floating population' counts everyone living away from the township of their household registration (hukou), excluding moves within the same city district, whatever their job. Neither figure covers international migration.
How much debt does the Chinese government have?
China's general government gross debt was 98.6% of GDP in 2025, up from 90.5% in 2024, according to the IMF's World Economic Outlook database, read on 13 October 2026. The IMF projects 104.4% for 2026.
The IMF measure is not the same as the official debt that China's Ministry of Finance reports, which covers central government bonds and local government general and special bonds within limits approved by the National People's Congress, so the two give different totals. When a claim gives a debt ratio, check whether it is official government debt, the IMF's measure, or total debt including companies and households. The ministry's budget report sets out the year's planned borrowing.
What is China's government budget and deficit?
China's 2026 budget plans general public budget revenue of 22.07 trillion yuan, up 2.2%, and spending of 30.01 trillion yuan, up 4.4%, with a deficit of 5.89 trillion yuan, 230 billion more than in 2025, according to the Ministry of Finance's report on the 2025 budget and the 2026 draft budget to the National People's Congress. Separately, 1.3 trillion yuan of ultra-long special treasury bonds are planned.
In January to August 2026, general public budget revenue was 15.66 trillion yuan, up 5.7% on a year earlier, according to the ministry's monthly fiscal release. The general public budget is only one of four budget accounts; government fund budgets, which include land sale income and special bonds, are reported separately, so the headline deficit does not include all government borrowing.
What is the life expectancy in China?
Life expectancy at birth in China was 78.0 years in 2024, according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators, updated on 8 October 2026, up from 77.95 years in 2023.
China's National Health Commission publishes its own figure for average life expectancy in its annual statistical bulletin on health development, and the government uses that figure for its development targets; the Commission's website could not be read on 13 October 2026, so its latest figure is not quoted here. The World Bank series combines national data and UN population estimates, so it can differ from the official national number by a few tenths of a year.
Source guides
- National Bureau of Statistics of China
- People's Bank of China
- Ministry of Finance of China: budget and fiscal data
- National Database of Laws and Regulations and China Judgements Online
Questions were chosen from the searches people make most about this country's figures, and each answer was written from the official page it links to, read on 14 October 2026. These answers give no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request.