* As of 6/9/2025
1 birth
Every 3.6 seconds
1 death
Every 2.7 seconds
1 emigrant
Every 2.0 minutes
1 person
Every 9.6 seconds
China, officially the People’s Republic of China, is the largest country in the world today. In January 2013, the Chinese Government released data confirming that the population of China was an impressive 1,354,040,000, although this does not include Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. As of September 2013, that number had grown even further to 1,360,720,000.
India, the next largest country, has 120 million fewer people, for a population of 1.28 billion. The United States, the third largest country in the world, has a much smaller population of 323 million. Estimates show that India will pass China as the most populous nation in the world in the next couple of decades.
Unfortunately, there is some confusion around the question of how many people live in China. That’s because it is a country of several different parts, not all of which are governed by Beijing.
To understand China’s population and demographics, it helps to understand its government a bit. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is governed by the Communist Party with its seat of government in Beijing, which exercises jurisdiction over 5 autonomous regions, 22 provinces, 4 direct-controlled municipalities and 2 primarily self-governing special administrative regions (Macau and Hong Kong). The PRC also claims Taiwan, which is controlled by a separate political entity called the Republic of China (ROC) as its 23rd province. This makes the population figures a bit confusing.
The figure quoted at the top of this article, for example, doesn’t include the island of Taiwan, which the PRC claims as a part of China. Nor does it include the former British and Portuguese colonies of Hong Kong and Macau, which are governed as special administrative regions.
China is classified as an upper middle-income country by the World Bank, and its rapid growth over the decades has pulled hundreds of millions of its citizens out of poverty. About 10% of the population in the country lives on $1 USD a day, compared to 64% just 35 years ago.
Although 56 different ethnic groups are officially recognized in China, 91.51% of Chinese are Han Chinese. Only one other group – Zhuang – has a larger than 1% share of the population. Other ethnic groups are growing at a higher rate than Han Chinese, but because of the massive dominance of Han Chinese, this is not expected to dramatically alter China’s ethnic composition.
China is officially an atheist state, and doesn’t survey its people on their religion. Because of this, no accurate figures regarding religious demographics are available. China’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion, although any religious organization without official approval faces state persecution. A survey taken in China showed that 85% of Chinese residents have some religious beliefs, while just 15% consider themselves to be atheists.
Chinese culture and civilization has been influenced by many religious movements over the past 1,000 years, and Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism are considered the country’s “Three Teachings” based on their cultural and historical impact. China has also seen an interesting syncing of these three religions in the form of a folk religion that is common throughout the country.
About 3% of the population is Islamic, with a Christian population estimated to be about 5%. According to some sources, Christianity could represent as much as 20% of China’s population by 2025. Buddhism is practiced by 10 to 18% of Chinese residents, while over 30% practice local folk religions.
China has had a rocky population history, littered with war, famine, and natural disasters. Six of the twelve most deadly wars across the globe took place in China, killing an estimated total of over 123 million people. The most deadly was the Three Kingdoms period (220AD - 280AD), where an estimated 40 million people died from war, famine, and disease. In 1850, a man named Hong Xiuquan led a rebellion to try to create the “Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping.” By proclaiming himself to be the younger brother of Jesus, he grew his following to between 10,000 and 30,000 followers, and by late 1850 they controlled over a third of China. During the 15 years of the rebellion, an estimated 20-30 million people died, primarily due to plague and famine.
