How many people live in China right now?
Right now, according to UN estimates
1,411,888,749
| Today | In 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Births | · | · |
| Deaths | · | · |
| Net migration | · | · |
| Growth | · | · |
2026 figures
- Rank by population
- 2 of 237
- Share of world population
- 16.96%
- Median age
- 40.6 years
- Children per woman
- 1.03
- Life expectancy
- 79.0 years
- People per km²
- 147
According to UN estimates, about 1.41 billion people live in China right now. It ranks 2nd out of 237 countries and territories by population, between India and the United States, and it is home to one in every 6 people on the planet.
Every day, about 23,600 people are born there and about 31,400 die. More people leave than arrive: net migration reduces the population by about 232,000 people a year. Overall, the population shrinks by about 8,500 people a day (0.22% a year).
In 1950, about 544 million people lived there. Today there are 2.6 times as many. It peaked in 2021, at about 1.43 billion, and has been falling since. By 2050 it is projected to have about 1.26 billion people (11% fewer than today), and by 2100 about 633 million.
Half of its people are younger than 41 (worldwide, 31). Women have an average of 1.03 children each, below the 2.1 needed for each generation to replace the one before, and life expectancy at birth is 79 years (worldwide, 74). There are 147 people per square kilometer.
UN estimates up to today and projections (medium variant) from today onward.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the population of China in 2026?
- China has about 1.41 billion people right now, according to the UN's World Population Prospects 2024. On July 1, 2026, there were 1,412,914,089.
- How many people are born each day in China?
- About 23,600 a day (8.6 million a year). About 31,400 people die each day (11.5 million a year).
- Is the population of China growing?
- No: it shrinks by 0.22% a year, or about 3.1 million people.
- What will the population of China be in 2050?
- According to the UN projection (medium variant), about 1.26 billion.
- Why doesn't this figure match the country's official statistics?
- The UN estimates the population of every country with the same method, based on censuses, surveys and registers, and projects it year by year. Each national statistics office uses its own censuses and registers, which may be more up to date or count foreign residents differently. That is why the figures can differ slightly.
Countries with a similar population
- India 1,480,585,681
- United States 349,570,796
- Indonesia 288,550,193
- Pakistan 260,627,807
More countries in Asia
- India 1,480,585,681
- Indonesia 288,550,193
- Pakistan 260,627,807
- Bangladesh 178,484,333
- Japan 122,207,048
- Philippines 118,018,856
- Vietnam 102,351,305
- Iran 93,380,237
- Turkey 88,012,259
- Thailand 71,536,973
- Myanmar 55,285,237
- South Korea 51,574,547
All countries and territories →
Where these figures come from
The figures are estimates from the United Nations Population Division, published in World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant): the reference used by international organizations and by most population counters. The UN estimates how many people there are on July 1 of each year and how many are born, die and migrate; between one date and the next, this counter spreads the change continuously, second by second.
It is not a real-time headcount: nobody can count every person in a country at once. It is the best available estimate, and it may differ slightly from the figures of each country's statistics office, which use their own censuses and population registers.