Highlights of China's seventh national census

BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China released the results of the seventh national census on Tuesday, aiming to provide statistical support for the country to improve its population policies and formulate economic and social development plans.

Here are some highlights of the census data, reflecting the fundamentals and key demographic trends of China's population over the past decade.

WORLD'S MOST POPULOUS COUNTRY

China's population on the mainland reached 1.41178 billion, accounting for 18 percent of the world's total and making the country maintain its position as the most populous country globally.

The 2020 population volume rose by 72.06 million or 5.38 percent from 2010, with an average annual growth rate of 0.53 percent in the past decade. The rate was slightly lower than the average annual growth of 0.57 percent from 2000 to 2010.

HIGHER EDUCATION LEVEL

The population who have received or are receiving college-level education reached 218.36 million. The number of people who have received or are receiving college-level education rose to 15,467 per 100,000 from the previous 8,930 per 100,000 in 2010.

The illiteracy rate declined to 2.67 percent from 4.08 percent in the previous census conducted in 2010, while the average years of education for people aged 15 or above increased to 9.91 years from 9.08 years.

MORE BALANCED GENDER RATIO

The census found gender ratio of China's mainland population continued to improve, with the male-to-female ratio hitting a record low of 105.07.

Gender ratio at birth fell to 111.3 from the 2010 figure of 118.1.

LARGER 0-14 AGE GROUP

The proportion of Chinese people aged 0-14 reached 17.95 percent, 1.35 percentage points higher than the 2010 level.

China's shift to the two-child policy contributed to the rebound in newborns. The number of second-child births accounted for around 50 percent of total births in China in 2017, higher than the 2013 figure of 30 percent.

ACTIVE MOBILITY

China's floating population surged nearly 70 percent in the past 10 years to 376 million.

The concentration of China's population also increased in the 2010-2020 period, with population in major city clusters such as Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta expanding rapidly.

RISING URBANIZATION RATE

China's population living in urban areas on the mainland totaled 901.99 million, representing 63.89 percent of the total.

The proportion of urban population was 14.21 percentage points higher than the figure for 2010 when the previous census was conducted.

ABUNDANT LABOR FORCE

China's working-age population, or people aged between 16 and 59, stands at 880 million, indicating that the country still has abundant labor force.

MORE ETHNIC MINORITIES POPULATION

The proportion of ethnic minority groups in China's mainland population has risen to 8.89 percent, up 0.4 percentage points from 2010.

The population of ethnic minority groups increased 10.26 percent to 125.47 million from 2010.