Rural population in China
China: Rural population was 473.41 million in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population in China, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
The most recent figure for rural population in China is 473.41 million, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.5% on the previous year and down 19.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in China peaked at 854.96 million in 1995 and was at its lowest, 473.41 million, in 2025.
China ranks 2nd of 215 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 586.28 million | 532.92 million | 656.73 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 743.63 million | 676.09 million | 785.27 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 804.53 million | 790.96 million | 825.45 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 840.80 million | 817.04 million | 854.96 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 747.24 million | 687.71 million | 802.64 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 596.97 million | 524.95 million | 679.10 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 490.73 million | 473.41 million | 514.72 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
More agriculture & rural data for China
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
- Rural population 33.7% (2025)
- Rural population growth -1.5% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.7% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.30 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 99.99 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 6,418 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 641.73 million metric tons (2023)
- Fertilizer consumption 394.02 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in China?
- Rural population in China was 473.41 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 854.96 million in 1995.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 473.41 million in 2025.
- How does China rank for rural population?
- China ranks 2nd out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 19.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this China data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.