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The Population of China in Perspective

China is the world’s most populous country with an astounding 1.44 billion citizens. Altogether, the size of the population of China is larger than nearly four regions combined: South America, Europe (excluding Russia), the U.S. & Canada, and Australia & New Zealand.

Using data from the United Nations, this unconventional map reveals the comparative size of China’s population next to a multitude of other countries.

Note: To keep the visualization easy to read, we’ve simplified the shapes representing countries. For example, although we’ve included Alaska and Hawaii in U.S. population totals, the U.S. is represented by the contiguous states map only.

A Historical Perspective

Looking at history, the population of China has more than doubled since the 1950s. The country was the first in the world to hit one billion people in 1980.

However, in 1979, in an attempt to control the burgeoning population, the infamous one-child policy was introduced, putting controls on how many children Chinese citizens could have.

While the government eventually recognized the negative implications of this policy, it appeared to be too little, too late. The two-child policy was introduced in 2016, but it has not yet reversed the current slowdown in population growth.

Year	China's Population (Millions)	Annual Rate of Growth (%)	Median Age	Fertility Rate
1955	612.2	2.00%	22.2	6.11
1960	660.4	1.53%	21.3	5.48
1965	724.2	1.86%	19.8	6.15
1970	827.6	2.70%	19.3	6.30
1975	926.2	2.28%	20.3	4.85
1980	1,000.1	1.55%	21.9	3.01
1985	1,075.6	1.47%	23.5	2.52
1990	1,176.9	1.82%	24.9	2.73
1995	1,240.9	1.07%	27.4	1.83
2000	1,290.6	0.79%	30.0	1.62
2005	1,330.8	0.62%	32.6	1.61
2010	1,368.8	0.57%	35.0	1.62
2015	1,406.8	0.55%	36.7	1.64
2016	1,414.0	0.51%	37.0	1.65
2017	1,421.0	0.49%	37.0	1.65
2018	1,427.6	0.47%	37.0	1.65
2019	1,433.8	0.43%	37.0	1.65
2020	1,439.3	0.39%	38.4	1.69

The fertility rate has been consistently falling from over 6 births per woman in 1955 to 1.69 in 2020. Today, the median age in China is 38 years old, rising from 22 in 1955. Longer life spans and fewer births form a demographic trend that has many social and economic implications.

Overall, China’s young population is becoming scarcer, meaning that the domestic labor market will eventually begin shrinking. Additionally, the larger share of elderly citizens will require publicly-funded resources, resulting in a heavier societal and financial burden.

Strength in Numbers

Despite these trends, however, China’s current population remains massive, constituting almost 20% of the world’s total population. Right now 71% of the Chinese population is between the ages of 15 and 65 years old, meaning that the labor supply is still immense.

Here are the populations of 65 countries from various regions of the world—and added together, you’ll see they still fall short of the population of China:

Country	Population	Region
U.S.	331,002,651	North America
Canada	37,742,154	North America
Brazil	212,559,417	South America
Colombia	50,882,891	South America
Argentina	45,195,774	South America
Peru	32,971,854	South America
Venezuela	28,435,940	South America
Chile	19,116,201	South America
Ecuador	17,643,054	South America
Bolivia	11,673,021	South America
Paraguay	7,132,538	South America
Uruguay	3,473,730	South America
Guyana	786,552	South America
Suriname	586,632	South America
French Guyana	298,682	South America
Falkland Islands	3,480	South America
Australia	25,499,884	Oceania
New Zealand	4,822,233	Oceania
Germany	83,783,942	Europe
France	65,273,511	Europe
Netherlands	17,134,872	Europe
Belgium	11,589,623	Europe
Austria	9,006,398	Europe
Switzerland	8,654,622	Europe
Luxembourg	625,978	Europe
Monaco	39,242	Europe
Liechtenstein	38,128	Europe
Italy	60,461,826	Europe
Spain	46,754,778	Europe
Greece	10,423,054	Europe
Portugal	10,196,709	Europe
Serbia	8,737,371	Europe
Croatia	4,105,267	Europe
Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,280,819	Europe
Albania	2,877,797	Europe
North Macedonia	2,083,374	Europe
Slovenia	2,078,938	Europe
Montenegro	628,066	Europe
Malta	441,543	Europe
Andorra	77,265	Europe
San Marino	33,931	Europe
Gibraltar	33,691	Europe
Vatican City	801	Europe
United Kingdom	67,886,011	Europe
Sweden	10,099,265	Europe
Denmark	5,792,202	Europe
Finland	5,540,720	Europe
Norway	5,421,241	Europe
Ireland	4,937,786	Europe
Lithuania	2,722,289	Europe
Latvia	1,886,198	Europe
Estonia	1,326,535	Europe
Iceland	341,243	Europe
Channel Islands	173,863	Europe
Isle of Man	85,033	Europe
Faroe Islands	48,863	Europe
Ukraine	43,733,762	Europe
Poland	37,846,611	Europe
Romania	19,237,691	Europe
Czechia	10,708,981	Europe
Hungary	9,660,351	Europe
Belarus	9,449,323	Europe
Bulgaria	6,948,445	Europe
Slovakia	5,459,642	Europe
Moldova	4,033,963	Europe
Total	1,431,528,252

To break it down even further, here’s a look at the population of each of the regions listed above:

Australia and New Zealand: 30.3 million
Europe (excluding Russia): 601.7 million
South America: 430.8 million
The U.S. and Canada: 368.7 million

Combined their population is 1.432 billion compared to China’s 1.439 billion.

Overall, the population of China has few comparables. India is one exception, with a population of 1.38 billion. As a continent, Africa comes in close as well at 1.34 billion people. Here’s a breakdown of Africa’s population for further comparison.

Country	Population	Region
Nigeria	206,139,589	Africa
Ghana	31,072,940	Africa
Côte d'Ivoire	26,378,274	Africa
Niger	24,206,644	Africa
Burkina Faso	20,903,273	Africa
Mali	20,250,833	Africa
Senegal	16,743,927	Africa
Guinea	13,132,795	Africa
Benin	12,123,200	Africa
Togo	8,278,724	Africa
Sierra Leone	7,976,983	Africa
Liberia	5,057,681	Africa
Mauritania	4,649,658	Africa
Gambia	2,416,668	Africa
Guinea-Bissau	1,968,001	Africa
Cabo Verde	555,987	Africa
Saint Helena	6,077	Africa
South Africa	59,308,690	Africa
Namibia	2,540,905	Africa
Botswana	2,351,627	Africa
Lesotho	2,142,249	Africa
Eswatini	1,160,164	Africa
Egypt	102,334,404	Africa
Algeria	43,851,044	Africa
Sudan	43,849,260	Africa
Morocco	36,910,560	Africa
Tunisia	11,818,619	Africa
Libya	6,871,292	Africa
Western Sahara	597,339	Africa
Democratic Republic of the Congo	89,561,403	Africa
Angola	32,866,272	Africa
Cameroon	26,545,863	Africa
Chad	16,425,864	Africa
Congo	5,518,087	Africa
Central African Republic	4,829,767	Africa
Gabon	2,225,734	Africa
Equatorial Guinea	1,402,985	Africa
Sao Tome and Principe	219,159	Africa
Ethiopia	114,963,588	Africa
Tanzania	59,734,218	Africa
Kenya	53,771,296	Africa
Uganda	45,741,007	Africa
Mozambique	31,255,435	Africa
Madagascar	27,691,018	Africa
Malawi	19,129,952	Africa
Zambia	18,383,955	Africa
Somalia	15,893,222	Africa
Zimbabwe	14,862,924	Africa
Rwanda	12,952,218	Africa
Burundi	11,890,784	Africa
South Sudan	11,193,725	Africa
Eritrea	3,546,421	Africa
Mauritius	1,271,768	Africa
Djibouti	988,000	Africa
Réunion	895,312	Africa
Comoros	869,601	Africa
Mayotte	272,815	Africa
Seychelles	98,347	Africa
Total	1,340,598,147

Future Outlook on the Population of China

Whether or not China’s population growth is slowing appears to be less relevant when looking at its sheer size. While India is expected to match the country’s population by 2026, China will remain one of the world’s largest economic powerhouses regardless.

It is estimated, however, that the population of China will drop below one billion people by the year 2100—bumping the nation to third place in the ranking of the world’s most populous countries. At the same time, it’s possible that China’s economic dominance may be challenged by these same demographic tailwinds as time moves forward.

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The post The Population of China in Perspective appeared first on Visual Capitalist.

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