Chongqing, China Population

Population in Urban Area, now

17,098,383
  • World: 12th
  • Asia: 8th
  • China: 3rd

Population in City Area, 2022-01-04

7,457,599
  • World: 32nd
  • Asia: 22nd
  • China: 12th

Chongqing Urban Area Population Graph

Chongqing Population Review

One of the five central cities in China, Chongqing is the largest direct-controlled municipality in the country. The latest reports put the urban area’s total population at 15.8 million people, with its city area boasting 7.4 million people. This massive city is located in southwestern China in the Sichuan province and shares borders with the Shaanxi, Hunan, and Guizhou provinces.

The population of Chongqing may already dwarf many other cities in the world, but it is still expected to continue to grow. By 2035, it’s predicted there will be 20.5 people living in Chongqing’s urban area. By comparison, the entire country of Guatemala only has around 17 million people.

A rapidly expanding city

Chongqing’s growing population is not happening only by chance. It’s directly related to the Chinese government’s current “Go West” campaign. This campaign is based on the country’s wish to build up interior cities, such as Chongqing, through business and infrastructure development. It seems to be working since the GDP of Chongqing has quadrupled since the late 1990s. While China’s population has grown by an incredible 7.5% in the last decade, the city of Chongqing is facing some future issues.

An aging population

While many people see China’s population as ever-growing (and it certainly has grown exponentially), Chongqing and China are facing a huge population crisis in the future. China’s one-child policy combined with an aging population has meant that the country is facing an ever-shrinking workforce while their aging population balloons. By 2050, it’s predicted that 1/3 of China’s population will be over 60—and Chongqing is no different.

Chongqing also has the same gendered issue as most of China, in that they have too many men. Social pressures combined with modern medicine has meant that more boys than girls were born to mothers in China. This means that many men in Chongqing are unable to find partners.

A “foggy” city

If you visit Chongqing, you will notice the city’s modern architecture and bustling streets, but what you may also see are surgical masks. Many people in Chongqing wear surgical masks when they leave their homes, but this is not for fashion. Unfortunately, China’s booming industrial sector has contaminated the air with soot, carbon dioxide, and acid rain. This is worsened by the fact that Chongqing is a naturally foggy city contained between mountainous regions, contributing to further air quality issues. China’s rapid industrialization is making it one of the most polluted countries on earth and Chongqing continues to rank on the World Bank’s index of most polluted cities in the world.

Even as early as 2004, the World Bank showed data that residents of Chongqing were inhaling six times the amount of lung-cancer causing pollutants as the World Health Organization considers safe. However, the city has recently begun to make concerted efforts to go green and clean up their environment. In 2019, the city logged 316 in good or excellent air quality and has dropped six major air quality indexes.

An important economic center

The economy of Chongqing has rapidly developed in recent years to become one of the most important economic centers in western China. While it does have a diversified economy, Chongqing’s economy sits on the pillars of the manufacturing sector, with automotive manufacturing and electronic manufacturing accounting for more than 40% of the city’s industrial sector GDP.

This rapid expansion of the city’s economic power has meant that work is widely available to residents. There are over 13 million people employed in Chongqing, with 9.2 million working in private enterprises or as self-employed, and around 4 million working in state-owned enterprises. Both private and public enterprises continue to expand as the demand for manufactured goods—mostly encouraged by the western world—continues to grow.

Review Updated: July 8, 2020
Panoramic skyline of ChongqingPanoramic skyline of Chongqing

Chongqing Urban Area Population History

1950 1,567,000
1951 1,631,000
1952 1,697,000
1953 1,766,000
1954 1,838,000
1955 1,913,000
1956 1,991,000
1957 2,072,000
1958 2,157,000
1959 2,245,000
1960 2,275,000
1961 2,246,000
1962 2,217,000
1963 2,188,000
1964 2,160,000
1965 2,188,000
1966 2,217,000
1967 2,246,000
1968 2,275,000
1969 2,272,000
1970 2,237,000
1971 2,254,000
1972 2,323,000
1973 2,395,000
1974 2,469,000
1975 2,545,000
1976 2,623,000
1977 2,704,000
1978 2,787,000
1979 2,873,000
1980 2,961,000
1981 3,052,000
1982 3,146,000
1983 3,243,000
1984 3,343,000
1985 3,446,000
1986 3,552,000
1987 3,662,000
1988 3,775,000
1989 3,891,000
1990 4,011,000
1991 4,290,000
1992 4,589,000
1993 4,908,000
1994 5,250,000
1995 5,615,000
1996 6,007,000
1997 6,425,000
1998 6,872,000
1999 7,350,000
2000 7,863,000
2001 8,230,000
2002 8,520,000
2003 8,821,000
2004 9,132,000
2005 9,454,000
2006 9,788,000
2007 10,133,000
2008 10,491,000
2009 10,861,000
2010 11,244,000
2011 11,640,000
2012 12,052,000
2013 12,476,000
2014 12,916,000
2015 13,372,000
2016 13,844,000
2017 14,332,000
2018 14,838,000
2019 15,354,000
2020 15,872,000
2021 16,382,000
2022 16,875,000
2023 17,341,000
2024 17,774,000

Chongqing Urban Area Population Projections

2025 18,171,000
2026 18,532,000
2027 18,857,000
2028 19,149,000
2029 19,412,000
2030 19,649,000
2031 19,863,000
2032 20,057,000
2033 20,232,000
2034 20,390,000
2035 20,531,000

Map of Chongqing, China

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