Jiangsu’s resident population reaches 84.74 million in 2020

2021-05-19 10:42:00

The Jiangsu provincial government held a press conference to introduce the highlights of the seventh population census in the coastal province on May 18.

By November 1 last year, the province's resident population reached 84,748,016, an increase of 6,087,075 people in ten years, or an average annual growth rate of 0.75%. Suzhou, Nanjing and Xuzhou ranked among the top three cities with the largest population in the province.

In 2020, Jiangsu's total population ranked fourth largest in the country and the GDP per capita reached 121,300 yuan, the highest among China’s province-level regions for 12 consecutive years.

The urban share of the population in Jiangsu exceeded 73.44% in last year, nearly 10 percentage points higher than the national average.

A staff member (left) conducts population census at a household in Shizhuang Village of Nantong, Jiangsu province, Nov.1, 2020. Photo/CFP

The province still had a strong labor force as people aged 15 to 59 totaled over 53.35 million, a drop of 2.5 million than in 2010. The number of people who have received or are receiving college-level education per 100,000 ranked fifth in the country, and the illiteracy rate declined to 2.61% from 3.79 percent in the previous census conducted in 2010.

Dr. Sun Yunhong from the Institute of Sociology of Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences said the province had 167 colleges and universities in last year, the highest in China, with 2.258 million students enrolled. They have played a leading role in supporting the transformation and upgrading of regional industries. In addition, the gross enrollment rate of Jiangsu’s higher education sector hit 60.2%, 8.6 percentage points higher than the national average.

Jiangsu is already an “aged society" as it had more than 16.2% of the total population aged 65 and above, higher than the national level of 13.5%.

Ma Yongchun, deputy director at the Office of Leading Group for the Seventh Jiangsu Provincial Population Census, said the province still has a labor population of over 50 million and this will be large enough to support high-quality economic and social development.

Sun also said Jiangsu’s adaption to meet the needs of an ageing society also means the elderly care sector will see a rapid growth.