Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
Employment in China - statistics & facts
China’s huge labor force was one of the most important factors contributing to the country’s unparalleled economic development over the past decades. Initially benefitting from its ample supply of cheap labor from the countryside, China’s demography and labor dynamics are now changing, putting strains on the economic development.
During the early years of the PRC, strong political emphasis was placed on agriculture. Following the implementation of economic growth schemes, more importance was placed on industrial labor during the 1990s and 2000s. With the ongoing transformation of the Chinese economy towards a more service oriented industry, employment in the service sector underwent a considerable expansion over the past years and accounted for around 49 percent of the labor force in China in 2024. This general shift led to the creation of better paid jobs in the cities and urban regions, which in turn induced a massive stream of migrant workers seeking employment in urban areas of China. According to the Chinese government, the number of migrant workers reached nearly 300 million in 2024. The female proportion of migrant workers amounted to 38 percent in that year.
Development of China’s working population
With about 1.41 billion people, China was the second most populous country in the world in 2024. However, the Chinese population is aging at a high pace and population growth turned negative in 2022. The working-age population in China reached this turning point already in 2014 and a general downtrend for the size of the labor force is inevitable in the coming years. Hence, efforts to rise productivity levels will become even more crucial for economic growth in the future.During the early years of the PRC, strong political emphasis was placed on agriculture. Following the implementation of economic growth schemes, more importance was placed on industrial labor during the 1990s and 2000s. With the ongoing transformation of the Chinese economy towards a more service oriented industry, employment in the service sector underwent a considerable expansion over the past years and accounted for around 49 percent of the labor force in China in 2024. This general shift led to the creation of better paid jobs in the cities and urban regions, which in turn induced a massive stream of migrant workers seeking employment in urban areas of China. According to the Chinese government, the number of migrant workers reached nearly 300 million in 2024. The female proportion of migrant workers amounted to 38 percent in that year.
Current state of the labor market
The coronavirus pandemic had a strong negative effect on the labor market in China. Although surveyed urban unemployment has already returned to moderate levels, the overall picture is more complicated. The private sector and services experienced severe setbacks during the pandemic. In 2022, the number of employees in urban areas declined for the first time in decades and people left the cities for rural areas. After the lifting of COVID-19-restrictions in late 2022, people started searching for new jobs in a market that was still experiencing slow economic recovery and lacking global stimulus. The low demand for labor is most severely felt by young people, who saw youth unemployment rising to 21.3 percent in June 2023. Due to the slow recovery of the Chinese economy, the Chinese labor market remains under pressure.
