The Wuxi statistics bureau released the results of the seventh census by the National Bureau of Statistics for 2020 on May 18.
According to the census data, the city's permanent population over the past 10 years has grown 17.06 percent from 6.37 million to 7.46 million, with an annual average growth rate of 1.59 percent.
The average annual growth rate of Wuxi's permanent population is 1.06 percentage points higher than the national average and 0.84 percentage points higher than the provincial average. The rate of increase ranks second in Jiangsu province.
Wuxi's urban population grew by 37.8 percent to 6.18 million in 2020, accounting for 82.79 percent of the city's total population, while its rural population decreased by 608,600.
The gender ratio of the permanent population decreased by 1.24 to 106.52 in 2020, with 51.58 percent of the population being male and 48.42 percent being female.
The data also revealed the aging trend of the population, as the number of people aged 60 or above reached 2.01 million, increasing 3.47 percent from 2010.
The education rates among the population showed encouraging signs. The number of people holding bachelor's degrees or higher per 100,000 people has grown from 12,879 in 2010 to 21,867 in 2020.
The census is a useful tool for analyzing the turning points in Wuxi's development, the economic signals they send, as well as the challenges and opportunities they pose.
