Population in cities over 1 million — all countries

Population in cities over 1 million — China

Population in cities over 1 million in China in 2025 — 460,164,024 people. Ranked 1 in the world out of 121. Since 1960, the indicator has risen by 749.3%.

2025 460M people +2.03% vs 2024
World rank 1of 121
Period maximum 460M people2025
Period minimum 54.18M people1960

Trend over time

1960–2025 · people

Population in cities over 1 million — China, 1960–20250200M400M600M19601967197419811988199520022009201620231960: 54,184,363 people1962: 56,782,174 people1964: 59,006,679 people1966: 61,485,504 people1968: 62,999,052 people1970: 64,481,678 people1972: 66,845,138 people1974: 69,633,782 people1976: 72,602,526 people1978: 76,202,376 people1980: 80,490,702 people1982: 85,350,653 people1984: 92,028,761 people1986: 99,473,509 people1988: 107,818,238 people1990: 117,251,887 people1992: 131,242,713 people1994: 147,507,400 people1996: 166,617,245 people1998: 189,207,420 people2000: 216,252,544 people2002: 234,270,258 people2004: 251,247,617 people2006: 269,647,598 people2008: 289,614,409 people2010: 311,285,309 people2012: 329,831,324 people2014: 348,525,737 people2016: 368,117,713 people2018: 388,398,439 people2020: 409,712,858 people2022: 431,038,314 people2024: 451,017,824 people2025: 460,164,024 people
Change over the period: +406M (+749.26%) Average annual rate: 3.35 %

Comparison, 2025

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: China

China 460M people
World computed 2.01B people
East Asia & Pacific computed 718M people
Eastern Asia computed 580M people
Upper-middle-income countries computed 837M people
Population in cities over 1 million — China, by year China All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2025 460M +9.15M +2.03%
2024 451M +9.74M +2.21%
2023 441M +10.24M +2.37%
2022 431M +10.58M +2.52%
2021 420M +10.75M +2.62%
2020 410M +10.74M +2.69%
2019 399M +10.58M +2.72%
2018 388M +10.31M +2.73%
2017 378M +9.97M +2.71%
2016 368M +9.87M +2.76%
2015 358M +9.72M +2.79%
2014 349M +9.48M +2.79%
2013 339M +9.22M +2.8%
2012 330M +8.95M +2.79%
2011 321M +9.6M +3.08%
2010 311M +11.07M +3.69%
2009 300M +10.6M +3.66%
2008 290M +10.2M +3.65%
2007 279M +9.77M +3.62%
2006 270M +9.4M +3.61%
2005 260M +9M +3.58%
2004 251M +8.67M +3.57%
2003 243M +8.31M +3.55%
2002 234M +7.98M +3.53%
2001 226M +10.04M +4.64%
2000 216M +14.15M +7%
1999 202M +12.89M +6.81%
1998 189M +11.79M +6.65%
1997 177M +10.8M +6.48%
1996 167M +9.95M +6.35%
1995 157M +9.16M +6.21%
1994 148M +8.45M +6.08%
1993 139M +7.81M +5.95%
1992 131M +7.26M +5.86%
1991 124M +6.73M +5.74%
1990 117M +4.87M +4.34%
1989 112M +4.56M +4.23%
1988 108M +4.3M +4.15%
1987 104M +4.05M +4.07%
1986 99.47M +3.83M +4.01%
1985 95.64M +3.61M +3.93%
1984 92.03M +3.43M +3.87%
1983 88.6M +3.25M +3.81%
1982 85.35M +2.49M +3.01%
1981 82.86M +2.37M +2.94%
1980 80.49M +2.19M +2.79%
1979 78.31M +2.1M +2.76%
1978 76.2M +1.9M +2.56%
1977 74.3M +1.7M +2.33%
1976 72.6M +1.5M +2.11%
1975 71.1M +1.47M +2.11%
1974 69.63M +1.42M +2.08%
1973 68.21M +1.37M +2.05%
1972 66.85M +1.33M +2.02%
1971 65.52M +1.04M +1.61%
1970 64.48M +744,516 +1.17%
1969 63.74M +738,110 +1.17%
1968 63M +752,230 +1.21%
1967 62.25M +761,318 +1.24%
1966 61.49M +1.08M +1.79%
1965 60.4M +1.4M +2.37%
1964 59.01M +1.18M +2.05%
1963 57.82M +1.04M +1.83%
1962 56.78M +1.05M +1.88%
1961 55.74M +1.55M +2.87%
1960 54.18M

Eastern Asia, 2025

The same indicator for neighboring countries — with links to their pages

About the indicator

The population of urban agglomerations with more than one million residents. The unit of count is the agglomeration, not the city within its administrative boundaries, and that is essential: along administrative lines many of the largest concentrations of people break up into dozens of municipalities. The indicator measures not urbanization as such but its concentration in large centers — a country can be highly urbanized without a single million-plus city.

Important: The table covers about 120 territories — the rest have no agglomerations of this size, and that is a zero, not a gap. Aggregates for groups of countries are therefore calculated at a lowered coverage threshold.

Source: World Population Prospects (UN), license CC BY 3.0 IGO.