The latest officially reported population of China was 1,408,975,000 in 2024 vs 26,498,823 people in North Korea in 2024. In 2025, based on the adjusted UN estimation, the current China's population is 1,405,773,318 people compared to 26,621,357 in North Korea.
Population statistics:
- China's population is 52.8 times bigger than North Korea's.
- China is ranked the 2nd most populous country in the world, while North Korea is the 56th.
- The countries together account for 17.3% of the world: 17% for China vs 0.32% for North Korea.
- For the last 10 years, China has had an average growth rate of +0.3% per year vs +0.41% in North Korea.
- Since 2005, the population of China has increased from 1.3B people to 1.41B (7.83% growth), while North Korea has grown from 24.4M to 26.6M (9.12% growth).
- North Korea is projected to reach its peak in 2032 at 26.8M people, while China's population already peaked in 2021 at 1.41B people and is projected to decrease to 629M people by 2100.
China vs North Korea: live population counter
China
|
North Korea
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Current population |
1405773318
|
26621357
|
| Population rank | 2/197 | 56/197 |
| Percent of world population | 17% | 0.32% |
| One net population change |
18.2 seconds
|
6.52 minutes
|
| One birth every |
3.5 seconds
|
1.54 minutes
|
| One death every |
2.84 seconds
|
2.05 minutes
|
| One migration net change every |
1.65 minutes
|
3.54 hours
|
| Annual migration change | -318,992 | -2,473 |
| Daily growth/decline | -4,753 | +221 |
| Annual growth/decline | -1,735,000 | +80,619 |
| Annual growth/decline rate | -0.12% | +0.31% |
| Population growth rate rank | 173/197 | 149/197 |
China and North Korea: population history and growth rate by year chart
China
Population
Growth rate
North Korea
Population
Growth rate
| Year | Population | Growth rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
China
|
North Korea
|
China
|
North Korea
|
|
| 1960 | 667,070,000 | 11,722,953 | - | - |
| 1961 | 660,330,000 | 11,990,713 | -1.01% | 2.28% |
| 1962 | 665,770,000 | 12,262,882 | 0.82% | 2.27% |
| 1963 | 682,335,000 | 12,567,057 | 2.49% | 2.48% |
| 1964 | 698,355,000 | 12,889,770 | 2.35% | 2.57% |
| 1965 | 715,185,000 | 13,219,369 | 2.41% | 2.56% |
| 1966 | 735,400,000 | 13,569,094 | 2.83% | 2.65% |
| 1967 | 754,550,000 | 13,958,350 | 2.6% | 2.87% |
| 1968 | 774,510,000 | 14,365,596 | 2.65% | 2.92% |
| 1969 | 796,025,000 | 14,767,615 | 2.78% | 2.8% |
| 1970 | 818,315,000 | 15,172,775 | 2.8% | 2.74% |
| 1971 | 841,105,000 | 15,572,457 | 2.78% | 2.63% |
| 1972 | 862,030,000 | 15,975,069 | 2.49% | 2.59% |
| 1973 | 881,940,000 | 16,350,367 | 2.31% | 2.35% |
| 1974 | 900,350,000 | 16,673,121 | 2.09% | 1.97% |
| 1975 | 916,395,000 | 16,971,055 | 1.78% | 1.79% |
| 1976 | 930,685,000 | 17,243,450 | 1.56% | 1.61% |
| 1977 | 943,455,000 | 17,492,798 | 1.37% | 1.45% |
| 1978 | 956,165,000 | 17,735,995 | 1.35% | 1.39% |
| 1979 | 969,005,000 | 17,983,470 | 1.34% | 1.4% |
| 1980 | 981,235,000 | 18,236,786 | 1.26% | 1.41% |
| 1981 | 993,885,000 | 18,501,295 | 1.29% | 1.45% |
| 1982 | 1,008,630,000 | 18,776,357 | 1.48% | 1.49% |
| 1983 | 1,023,310,000 | 19,054,034 | 1.46% | 1.48% |
| 1984 | 1,036,825,000 | 19,335,043 | 1.32% | 1.47% |
| 1985 | 1,051,040,000 | 19,620,388 | 1.37% | 1.48% |
| 1986 | 1,066,790,000 | 19,910,855 | 1.5% | 1.48% |
| 1987 | 1,084,035,000 | 20,205,483 | 1.62% | 1.48% |
| 1988 | 1,101,630,000 | 20,503,161 | 1.62% | 1.47% |
| 1989 | 1,118,650,000 | 20,804,367 | 1.54% | 1.47% |
| 1990 | 1,135,185,000 | 21,112,137 | 1.48% | 1.48% |
| 1991 | 1,150,780,000 | 21,428,638 | 1.37% | 1.5% |
| 1992 | 1,164,970,000 | 21,750,911 | 1.23% | 1.5% |
| 1993 | 1,178,440,000 | 22,073,352 | 1.16% | 1.48% |
| 1994 | 1,191,835,000 | 22,393,975 | 1.14% | 1.45% |
| 1995 | 1,204,855,000 | 22,669,304 | 1.09% | 1.23% |
| 1996 | 1,217,550,000 | 22,895,746 | 1.05% | 1% |
| 1997 | 1,230,075,000 | 23,110,830 | 1.03% | 0.94% |
| 1998 | 1,241,935,000 | 23,311,564 | 0.96% | 0.87% |
| 1999 | 1,252,735,000 | 23,497,599 | 0.87% | 0.8% |
| 2000 | 1,262,645,000 | 23,665,910 | 0.79% | 0.72% |
| 2001 | 1,271,850,000 | 23,815,358 | 0.73% | 0.63% |
| 2002 | 1,280,400,000 | 23,943,973 | 0.67% | 0.54% |
| 2003 | 1,288,400,000 | 24,090,380 | 0.62% | 0.61% |
| 2004 | 1,296,075,000 | 24,254,943 | 0.6% | 0.68% |
| 2005 | 1,303,720,000 | 24,396,433 | 0.59% | 0.58% |
| 2006 | 1,311,020,000 | 24,524,507 | 0.56% | 0.52% |
| 2007 | 1,317,885,000 | 24,646,383 | 0.52% | 0.5% |
| 2008 | 1,324,655,000 | 24,764,618 | 0.51% | 0.48% |
| 2009 | 1,331,260,000 | 24,878,332 | 0.5% | 0.46% |
| 2010 | 1,337,705,000 | 24,987,258 | 0.48% | 0.44% |
| 2011 | 1,345,035,000 | 25,097,874 | 0.55% | 0.44% |
| 2012 | 1,354,190,000 | 25,211,728 | 0.68% | 0.45% |
| 2013 | 1,363,240,000 | 25,329,451 | 0.67% | 0.47% |
| 2014 | 1,371,860,000 | 25,451,262 | 0.63% | 0.48% |
| 2015 | 1,379,860,000 | 25,575,350 | 0.58% | 0.49% |
| 2016 | 1,387,790,000 | 25,698,326 | 0.57% | 0.48% |
| 2017 | 1,396,215,000 | 25,817,709 | 0.61% | 0.46% |
| 2018 | 1,402,760,000 | 25,931,147 | 0.47% | 0.44% |
| 2019 | 1,407,745,000 | 26,037,632 | 0.36% | 0.41% |
| 2020 | 1,411,100,000 | 26,136,312 | 0.24% | 0.38% |
| 2021 | 1,412,360,000 | 26,232,534 | 0.09% | 0.37% |
| 2022 | 1,412,175,000 | 26,328,845 | -0.01% | 0.37% |
| 2023 | 1,410,710,000 | 26,418,204 | -0.1% | 0.34% |
| 2024 | 1,408,975,000 | 26,498,823 | -0.12% | 0.31% |
| 2025 | 1,405,773,318 | 26,571,033 | -0.23% | 0.27% |
| 2026 | 1,402,614,510 | 26,633,682 | -0.22% | 0.24% |
| 2027 | 1,399,403,406 | 26,686,492 | -0.23% | 0.2% |
| 2028 | 1,395,886,569 | 26,729,261 | -0.25% | 0.16% |
| 2029 | 1,392,060,666 | 26,762,008 | -0.27% | 0.12% |
| 2030 | 1,387,961,846 | 26,784,894 | -0.29% | 0.09% |
| 2031 | 1,383,588,794 | 26,797,946 | -0.32% | 0.05% |
| 2032 | 1,378,934,346 | 26,801,071 | -0.34% | 0.01% |
| 2033 | 1,374,007,012 | 26,795,061 | -0.36% | -0.02% |
| 2034 | 1,368,825,481 | 26,780,481 | -0.38% | -0.05% |
| 2035 | 1,363,415,793 | 26,757,705 | -0.4% | -0.09% |
| 2036 | 1,357,772,486 | 26,727,309 | -0.41% | -0.11% |
| 2037 | 1,351,902,859 | 26,689,907 | -0.43% | -0.14% |
| 2038 | 1,345,840,038 | 26,646,323 | -0.45% | -0.16% |
| 2039 | 1,339,558,174 | 26,596,967 | -0.47% | -0.19% |
| 2040 | 1,333,028,062 | 26,542,417 | -0.49% | -0.21% |
| 2041 | 1,326,251,398 | 26,483,475 | -0.51% | -0.22% |
| 2042 | 1,319,222,019 | 26,420,812 | -0.53% | -0.24% |
| 2043 | 1,311,956,934 | 26,354,324 | -0.55% | -0.25% |
| 2044 | 1,304,437,340 | 26,284,000 | -0.57% | -0.27% |
| 2045 | 1,296,592,737 | 26,210,196 | -0.6% | -0.28% |
| 2046 | 1,288,357,014 | 26,132,922 | -0.64% | -0.29% |
| 2047 | 1,279,723,262 | 26,052,086 | -0.67% | -0.31% |
| 2048 | 1,270,661,954 | 25,967,581 | -0.71% | -0.32% |
| 2049 | 1,261,120,581 | 25,879,244 | -0.75% | -0.34% |
| 2050 | 1,251,102,086 | 25,787,120 | -0.79% | -0.36% |
From 2005 to 2015, the population of China increased by 76,140,000 people (a 5.84% growth), while North Korea gained 1,178,917 people (a 4.83% growth).
For the next 10 years, from 2015 to 2025, China gained 25,913,318 (a 1.88% growth), while North Korea's population increased by 1,046,007 (a 4.09% growth).
China was ranked 1st most populous country in 2005 and is 2nd in 2025. North Korea was ranked 46th in 2005 and ranked 56th now.
The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 25 years (in 2050) China's population will shrink by 11% to 1,251,102,086 people and will still be ranked 2nd. The population of North Korea will decrease by 3.13% to 25,787,120 people and rank change from 56th to 66th.
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Population differences between China and North Korea
|
China
|
North Korea
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 78.4 years | 73.9 years |
| Average age | 40.5 years | 38 years |
| Median age | 40.6 years | 37.3 years |
| Male:Female ratio | 50.9:49.1 | 49.5:50.5 |
| Fertility rate | 1 births per woman | 1.78 births per woman |
| Population density | 389 ppl/mi² | 570 ppl/mi² |
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