China vs Middle income: Rural population
China
473.41 million
in 2025
Middle income
2.69 billion
in 2025
China rank
2nd
Middle income rank
4th
Rural population over time
- China
- Middle income
How they compare
Middle income currently reports 2.69 billion against 473.41 million in China, a difference of 2.21 billion.
That makes Middle income's figure about 5.7 times China's.
Across all 66 years both countries report, Middle income has been ahead every year.
China ranks 2nd and Middle income ranks 4th of 218 countries.
Middle income has averaged higher in every one of the 7 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | Middle income | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 586.28 million | 1.66 billion | 1.08 billion | Middle income |
| 1970s | 743.63 million | 2.02 billion | 1.28 billion | Middle income |
| 1980s | 804.53 million | 2.32 billion | 1.52 billion | Middle income |
| 1990s | 840.80 million | 2.61 billion | 1.77 billion | Middle income |
| 2000s | 747.24 million | 2.71 billion | 1.97 billion | Middle income |
| 2010s | 596.97 million | 2.71 billion | 2.11 billion | Middle income |
| 2020s | 490.73 million | 2.68 billion | 2.19 billion | Middle income |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher rural population, China or Middle income?
- Middle income, at 2.69 billion against 473.41 million in China as of 2025.
- What is the difference in rural population between China and Middle income?
- 2.21 billion, with Middle income ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and Middle income?
- 66 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2025.
- How do China and Middle income rank globally for rural population?
- China ranks 2nd and Middle income ranks 4th of 218 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as Rural population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
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.