A bird's-eye view of Suzhou, Jiangsu province. [Photo/WeChat account: suzhoufabu365]
The Suzhou statistics bureau on May 18 released the results of the seventh census by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2020, local media outlets reported.
According to the census data, the city's permanent population has risen by 21.88 percent over the past 10 years from 10.46 million to 12.75 million. This is the highest growth rate registered among cities in East China's Jiangsu province.
The urban population has grown 11.65 percent from 2010 to account for 81.72 percent of the city's total population. All of its 10 administered districts and county-level cities now have an average urbanization rate of over 70 percent.
The sex ratio of the permanent population increased from 104.08 in 2010 to 109.29 in 2020, with 52.22 percent of the population, or 6.66 million people, being male and 47.78 percent being female.
The data also revealed the aging trend of the population, as the number of people aged 65 or above accounted for 12.44 percent of the city's total population, 3.94 percentage points higher than in 2010.
In terms of education, the number of people holding bachelor's degrees or higher has grown 8.53 percent from 2010 to 2.87 million in 2020, accounting for 22.51 percent of the city's total population. This was the second highest growth rate in Jiangsu.
The census is a useful tool for analyzing the turning points in Hangzhou's development, the economic signals they send, and the challenges and opportunities they create.
