Population figures for the city of Nanjing, as recorded in the 2020 census, have been official released. While there has been the growth to be expected, our city lags behind other major urban areas in eastern China, making it now the smallest provincial capital in the Yangtze River Delta.
On 18 May, the Jiangsu Provincial Bureau of Statistics released data that revealed the permanent population of Nanjing in 2020 to be 9,314,685.
It is important to note, however, that this figure doesn’t not include the floating population. Last year, this publication reported that the Nanjing Public Security Bureau had revealed the total population of Nanjing to be 10,312,200 at the end of 2019.
And then there is the difference between long-term residents and those with Nanjing as their registered place of residence on their “hukou” (household register).
While the figures can be misleading, comparisons, on the other hand, need to be drawn. Particularly in China where size is everything. It is therefore something of an embarrassment for our city that Nanjing is the smallest of the capitals within the realm of the Yangtze River Delta, comprising the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
The 2020 census shows us that Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, is the most populous provincial capital in the Delta, with a population of 11,936,010. Next comes Hefei, capital of Anhui, with a population only slightly larger than Nanjing’s, at 9,369,881 people.
The whopping Municipality of Shanghai is of course also part of the Yangtze River Delta, but who can compete with that?
Elsewhere in our very own Jiangsu Province, the top five performing cities in terms of population growth were Changzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi and Xuzhou. Suzhou came top of the list, with an increase in her population of 2,288,372, reported The Paper.
Nanjing is also therefore shamed into continuing her position as the second most populous city in Jiangsu, behind Suzhou.
As to the number of foreigners are living in Nanjing, we still do not know, but speculation continues that the number be significantly down, especially given COVID. Nanjing’s Municipal Bureau of Statistics has told The Nanjinger that this information shall be made available next month.
