Life in China
East Asia & Pacific · upper-middle-income · capital Beijing
World Bank country code CHN · ISO CN · Data sources
Live a life in China
Start from this country's own statistics — its mortality curve, its income level, its school system — and play the years out: what happens if you leave school at fifteen, or take the job that is offered, or move to the capital.
Start a life in ChinaThe statistics behind the simulation
Each figure shows the year it was observed. A missing row means the World Bank does not report that indicator for China — not that the value is zero.
| Indicator | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|
Life expectancy at birth The average number of years a newborn would live if the year's mortality rates held for their whole life. | 78.0 years | 2024 |
Infant mortality Babies who die before their first birthday, per 1,000 live births. | 4.1 per 1,000 | 2024 |
Under-5 mortality Children who die before their fifth birthday, per 1,000 live births. | 5.7 per 1,000 | 2024 |
Fertility rate The average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime. | 1.01 | 2024 |
GDP per capita (PPP) Purchasing-power-adjusted output per person — the best single measure of how much a person in this country can buy. | $27,140 | 2024 |
Adult literacy rate The share of people aged 15 and over who can read and write a short simple statement about their everyday life. | 96.7% | 2020 |
Government education spending Public spending on education as a share of total output. | 3.9% | 2023 |
Government health spending Public spending on health as a share of total output. | 5.9% | 2023 |
Urban population The share of people living in urban areas. | 65.9% | 2024 |
Poverty rate The share of people living below the national poverty line. | 0.0% | 2022 |
Youth unemployment The share of the labour force aged 15–24 that is without work and looking for it. | 4.6% | 2024 |
Population Total population. | 1,408,975,000 | 2024 |
Birth rate Crude birth rate: births per 1,000 population per year. | 6.8 | 2024 |
Female labour force participation The share of women aged 15 and over in work or actively looking for work. | 59.4% | 2024 |
Maternal mortality Deaths during pregnancy and childbirth per 100,000 live births. | 16 per 100,000 | 2023 |
What these numbers mean
A newborn in China can expect to live 78.0 years, above the dataset median of 74.7 years. Infant mortality runs at 4.1 deaths per 1,000 live births (2024), so roughly 4 in every thousand babies do not reach their first birthday. Output per person, adjusted for purchasing power, is $27,140 (2024) — which places the country in the middle of this dataset on purchasing power, and it is what sets the scale of every income the simulation can offer. The fertility rate is 1.01 births per woman (2024) — below replacement level, so the simulation's households tend to be small. Adult literacy stands at 96.7% (2020), so schooling in the simulation starts close to universal here. Public spending on education is 3.9% of output (2023), which is the share of national resources the simulation's schooling decisions are competing for. 65.9% of people live in urban areas (2024), so where you start — village, town, city or capital — is a real difference in what the same life can offer.
In the simulation, income is expressed as a share of what an average worker in China earns, so the same household choice buys very different amounts in different countries. Median output per person across this dataset is $21,026.
Other countries in East Asia & Pacific
- Guam77.4 yrs · 2024
- New Caledonia78.9 yrs · 2024
- Northern Mariana Islands78.9 yrs · 2024
- Malaysia76.8 yrs · 2024
- Thailand76.6 yrs · 2024
- Brunei Darussalam75.5 yrs · 2024
- Viet Nam74.7 yrs · 2024
- New Zealand82.0 yrs · 2024
- Korea, Dem. People's Rep.73.7 yrs · 2024
- Tonga73.1 yrs · 2024
- American Samoa73.0 yrs · 2024
- Australia83.1 yrs · 2024
Where China sits within East Asia & Pacific
Of the 37 countries in East Asia & Pacific that report life expectancy, China sits above the regional median, at 78.0 years against a regional median of 73.0. 10 countries report a higher figure and 26 report a lower one.
| Indicator | China | East Asia & Pacific median | East Asia & Pacific range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 78.0 | 73.0 | 62.3 – 85.4 |
| Infant mortality | 4.1 | 13.9 | 1.8 – 38.8 |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $27,140 | $15,473 | $2,679 – $153,161 |
| Adult literacy | 96.7% | 96.1% | 69.4% – 100.0% |
| Fertility rate | 1.0 | 2.1 | 0.6 – 3.8 |
| Urban population | 65.9% | 64.7% | 15.4% – 100.0% |
| Education spending | 3.9% | 4.1% | 0.8% – 16.4% |
Ranges cover every country in the region that reports the indicator, in the year each country last reported it. Medians are unweighted, so a large country and a small one count the same.
Where China shows up in the topics
These pages put China's figures next to the other 216 countries, for the indicators that shape the decisions in the simulation.
- Child marriage around the worldFertility rate · Secondary school enrolment · Female labour-force participation
- Gender and schooling around the worldAdult literacy rate · Secondary school enrolment · Female labour-force participation
- Child labour statistics by countrySecondary school enrolment · Adult literacy rate · Poverty rate
- Schooling costs and enrolment by countryGovernment education spending · Secondary school enrolment · Adult literacy rate
- Fertility and family size by countryFertility rate · Birth rate · Maternal mortality
- Marriage and family life by countryFertility rate · Female labour-force participation · Life expectancy at birth
About these figures
The statistics above are national averages from the World Bank Open Data, retrieved 2026-11-01 and released under World Bank data is released under CC BY 4.0. National averages do not describe any individual life, and this page does not rank China against other countries. Life expectancy reflects a country's mortality conditions as a whole, which include healthcare access, income distribution, nutrition, sanitation and public safety — the simulation uses it as a risk curve, not as a measure of the people who live there.