In 2023, approximately 66.2 percent of the total population in China lived in cities. The urbanization rate has increased steadily in China over the last decades.
Degree of urbanization in China
Urbanization is generally defined as a process of people migrating from rural to urban areas, during which towns and cities are formed and increase in size. Even though urbanization is not exclusively a modern phenomenon, industrialization and modernization did accelerate its progress. As shown in the statistic at hand, the degree of urbanization of China, the world's second-largest economy, rose from 36 percent in 2000 to around 51 percent in 2011. That year, the urban population surpassed the number of rural residents for the first time in the country's history.
Brazil and Russia, two other BRIC countries, display a much higher degree of urbanization than China. On the other hand, in India, the country with the worlds’ largest population, a mere 35.4 percent of the population lived in urban regions as of 2021. Similar to other parts of the world, the progress of urbanization in China is closely linked to modernization. From 2000 to 2022, the contribution of agriculture to the gross domestic product in China shrank from 14.7 percent to 7.3 percent. Even more evident was the decrease of workforce in agriculture.
Degree of urbanization in China in selected years from 1980 to 2023
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National Bureau of Statistics of China. (January 17, 2024). Degree of urbanization in China in selected years from 1980 to 2023 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved August 25, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/270162/urbanization-in-china/
National Bureau of Statistics of China. "Degree of urbanization in China in selected years from 1980 to 2023." Chart. January 17, 2024. Statista. Accessed August 25, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/270162/urbanization-in-china/
National Bureau of Statistics of China. (2024). Degree of urbanization in China in selected years from 1980 to 2023. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: August 25, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/270162/urbanization-in-china/
National Bureau of Statistics of China. "Degree of Urbanization in China in Selected Years from 1980 to 2023." Statista, Statista Inc., 17 Jan 2024, https://www.statista.com/statistics/270162/urbanization-in-china/
National Bureau of Statistics of China, Degree of urbanization in China in selected years from 1980 to 2023 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/270162/urbanization-in-china/ (last visited August 25, 2024)
Degree of urbanization in China in selected years from 1980 to 2023 [Graph], National Bureau of Statistics of China, January 17, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/270162/urbanization-in-china/