The demography of ethnic minorities in China

According to the 2010 census, China had a population of 1.33 billion, of which 8% belonged to the 52 ethnic minorities ranging in size from about 4,000 to 17 million people. This paper presents an analysis of the 2010 census data pertaining to the 18 ethnic groups which had a population in excess of 2 million persons each. Corresponding data for the majority Han have been used for comparative purposes. Many minorities differ from the majority Han in terms of their cultural, linguistic and even religious affiliations.

Our findings indicate that historically ethnic minorities experienced higher annual rates of population growth. These have been declining and more recently they are even slightly lower than the growth rate for the Han. Overall, the ethnic minorities are younger and experience higher levels of fertility and mortality. They are generally concentrated in certain areas, mostly around the borders of China. They rank much lower in terms of socio-economic indicators such as education and occupation and labour force participation. While there has been progress during the past decades, the benefits of China’s rapid economic development have not been enjoyed by most of the ethnic minorities to the same extent as the Han.