On March 27, 2025, the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Statistics announced the population size and distribution of Guangzhou in 2024. The data showed that at the end of 2024, Guangzhou’s permanent population was 18.978 million, and the urbanization rate was 87.24%. At the end of the year, the registered population was 10.7502 million, and the registered population urbanization rate was 83.31%. The registered birth population for the whole year was 114,300, with a birth rate of 10.72‰; the death population was 54,800, with a death rate of 5.14‰; the natural growth population was 59,500, with a natural growth rate of 5.58‰.
In 2024, Guangzhou’s economic operation was generally stable, and the coordination of population policy and urban positioning led to a steady growth in the registered population, a continuous increase in the permanent population, and a steady increase in the urbanization rate.
At the end of 2024, Guangzhou’s permanent population reached 18.978 million, an increase of 151,000 people and 0.8% over the end of the previous year, accounting for 14.85% of the province’s total population, firmly ranking first in the province.
Operator data show that in December 2024, Guangzhou’s total population will exceed 22 million, a year-on-year increase of 1.8%. Metro data show that on December 31, 2024, Guangzhou Metro’s passenger volume exceeded 12.2 million, breaking the Guangzhou Metro’s single-day passenger volume record.
At the end of 2024, Guangzhou’s permanent population urbanization rate was 87.24%, an increase of 0.48 percentage points over the previous year; the registered population urbanization rate was 83.31%, an increase of 1.45 percentage points over the previous year. Urbanization is the only way to modernization and a strong support for promoting regional coordinated development. The city’s permanent population urbanization level continues to improve, 20.24 percentage points and 11.33 percentage points higher than the national and provincial averages, respectively.
Guangzhou will further smooth the channels for agricultural migrant population to settle in the city, help them integrate into urban life faster, and further narrow the gap between the urbanization rate of registered population and the urbanization rate of permanent population to 3.93 percentage points. The construction of new urbanization will inject continuous vitality into Guangzhou’s sustainable development.
Registered population
At the end of 2024, Guangzhou’s registered population will be 10.7502 million, an increase of 184,100 people from the end of the previous year, an increase of 1.74%.
Natural growth
From the perspective of natural growth, in 2024, Guangzhou’s registered population will register 114,300 births, and the natural growth population will be 59,500, contributing 32.3% to the growth of registered population. The number of registered births in Guangzhou will continue to remain above 110,000, providing internal motivation for the growth of registered population.
Mechanical changes
From the perspective of mechanical changes, the city’s registered population will be 165,200, the population will be 40,500, and the mechanical growth population will be 124,700.