Per capita disposable income of households in China 1990-2023

In 2023, the average annual per capita disposable income of households in China amounted to approximately 39,200 yuan. Annual per capita income in Chinese saw a significant rise over the last decades and is still rising at a high pace. During the last nine years, per capita disposable income roughly doubled in China.

Income distribution in China

As an emerging economy, China faces a large number of development challenges, one of the most pressing issues being income inequality. The income gap between rural and urban areas has been stirring social unrest in China and poses a serious threat to the dogma of a “harmonious society” proclaimed by the communist party. In contrast to the disposable income of urban households, which reached around 51,800 yuan in 2023, that of rural households only amounted to around 21,700 yuan. Coinciding with the urban-rural income gap, income disparities between coastal and western regions in China have become apparent. As of 2022, households in Shanghai and Beijing displayed the highest average annual income of around 79,600 and 77,400 yuan respectively, followed by Zhejiang province with 60,300 yuan. Gansu, a province located in the West of China, had the lowest average annual per capita household income in China with merely 23,300 yuan.

Income inequality in China

The Gini coefficient is the most commonly used measure of income inequality. For China, the official Gini coefficient also indicates the astonishing inequality of income distribution in the country. Although the Gini coefficient has dropped from its high in 2008 at 49.1 points, it still ranged at a score of 46.7 points in 2022. The United Nations have set an index value of 40 as a warning level for serious inequality in a society.