Report on Zhengzhou's Population Status in 2024

According to the 2024 population change sampling survey (with the standard time set at 0:00 on November 1), Zhengzhou covered 1,267 village-level samples and 6,125 survey communities, investigating 49,772 housing units and 150,568 people. The results show that the city’s permanent population continued to grow, the age structure remained basically stable, the working-age population increased, urbanization advanced steadily, and the natural population growth rate rose.

By the end of 2024, Zhengzhou’s permanent population reached 13.086 million, an increase of 78,000 from 2023—though this growth was smaller than the 180,000 increase in 2023. Males accounted for 51.1% (6.693 million), and females 48.9% (6.393 million), with a sex ratio of 104.7 (female=100)—basically unchanged from 2023, higher than the provincial average, but still within the internationally recognized reasonable range of 95–105.

As the Chinese Lunar Dragon Year, 2024 saw a traditional boost to birth rates. The city recorded 114,000 births (+16,000 from 2023) and 63,000 deaths (-1,000 from 2023). The birth rate rose by 1.16‰ to 8.75‰, while the death rate decreased slightly by 0.13‰ to 4.82‰. Natural population growth reached 51,200 (+16,900 from 2023), with a natural growth rate of 3.92‰—4.91‰ higher than the national average and 4.03‰ higher than the provincial average, marking a 1.28‰ increase from 2023.

In 2024, residents aged 0–15 numbered 2.407 million (18.4%), those aged 16–59 reached 8.798 million (67.2%), and those aged 60+ were 1.881 million (14.4%), including 1.275 million (9.7%) aged 65+. Compared to 2023, the 0–15 age group decreased by 29,000, the 16–59 group increased by 72,000, and the 60+ group rose by 35,000, while the 65+ group decreased by 34,000. The shares of 60+ and 65+ populations increased by 0.2% and decreased by 0.4% respectively. The slight rise in the 16–59 age group maintained Zhengzhou’s status as a city with a robust labor force.

Driven by economic recovery, active migration, and natural population growth in urban areas, Zhengzhou’s urban permanent population rose to 10.600 million in 2024 (+194,000 from 2023), while the rural population decreased by 116,000 to 2.486 million. The urbanization rate reached 81.00% (+1.00% from 2023), 14.00% higher than the national rate (67.00%) and 21.78% higher than the provincial rate (59.22%). The growth margin of the urbanization rate expanded by 0.40% compared to 2023, reflecting Zhengzhou’s continuous progress in people-centered new urbanization. Moving forward, enhancing the quality of urban development, expanding social security coverage, and promoting urban renewal remain critical tasks for the city’s sustainable growth.