Population of compulsory school age, male in China
China: Population of compulsory school age, male was 85.21 million in 2025. ▼ Falling
Population of compulsory school age, male in China, 1998–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Analysis
China recorded 85.21 million for population of compulsory school age, male in 2025.
That represents a change of down 1.7% on the previous year and up 7.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, population of compulsory school age, male in China peaked at 111.64 million in 1998 and was at its lowest, 78.37 million, in 2013.
That places China 2nd out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 28 years of available data.
Population of compulsory school age, male in China, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 111.64 million | — |
| 1999 | 111.15 million | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 111.17 million | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 110.18 million | -0.9% |
| 2002 | 108.27 million | -1.7% |
| 2003 | 105.16 million | -2.9% |
| 2004 | 97.11 million | -7.7% |
| 2005 | 92.48 million | -4.8% |
| 2006 | 87.27 million | -5.6% |
| 2007 | 85.08 million | -2.5% |
| 2008 | 83.14 million | -2.3% |
| 2009 | 81.52 million | -2.0% |
| 2010 | 80.14 million | -1.7% |
| 2011 | 79.14 million | -1.3% |
| 2012 | 78.53 million | -0.8% |
| 2013 | 78.37 million | -0.2% |
| 2014 | 78.62 million | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 79.28 million | +0.8% |
| 2016 | 79.74 million | +0.6% |
| 2017 | 80.61 million | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 81.52 million | +1.1% |
| 2019 | 83.24 million | +2.1% |
| 2020 | 84.29 million | +1.3% |
| 2021 | 85.49 million | +1.4% |
| 2022 | 85.86 million | +0.4% |
| 2023 | 86.46 million | +0.7% |
| 2024 | 86.68 million | +0.3% |
| 2025 | 85.21 million | -1.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 111.40 million | 111.15 million | 111.64 million | 2 |
| 2000s | 96.14 million | 81.52 million | 111.17 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 79.92 million | 78.37 million | 83.24 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 85.67 million | 84.29 million | 86.68 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
More education data for China
- Theoretical duration of upper secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,023 tertiary education (2024)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 6.74 million (2024)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 69.7% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 15.4% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is population of compulsory school age, male in China?
- Population of compulsory school age, male in China was 85.21 million in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest population of compulsory school age, male recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 111.64 million in 1998.
- What is the lowest population of compulsory school age, male recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 78.37 million in 2013.
- How does China rank for population of compulsory school age, male?
- China ranks 2nd out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is population of compulsory school age, male rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this China data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Population of compulsory school age, male (number). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release