Customers visit a shopping mall in the Tianhe Road shopping district in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong province, 6 October 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]
BEIJING (Reuters) – Income growth for Chinese residents has essentially kept pace with the country’s economic growth over the past decade, and the income gap between urban and rural residents has narrowed, the country said on Tuesday. the National Bureau of Statistics.
China’s per capita disposable income stood at 35,128 yuan ($4,940) in 2021, up 112.8 percent from 2012. It raised the average annual nominal growth rate to 8.8 percent during of the last decade. After deducting price factors, the average annual real growth rate was 6.6 percent, basically in line with the expansion of the economy, the NBS said.
The income gap between urban and rural residents has narrowed over the past decade.
In 2021, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 47,412 yuan, an increase of 96.5% from 2012. The per capita disposable income of rural residents was 18,931 yuan, an increase of 125, 7% compared to 2012.
From 2013 to 2021, the average annual income growth rate of rural residents was 1.7 percentage points higher than that of urban residents.
Consumption capacity has increased over the past decade.
In 2021, per capita consumer spending by Chinese residents was about 24,100 yuan, up 99.9 percent from 2012 in nominal terms, or 8 percent on an annual average basis. After deducting price factors, the growth rate stood at 67.4% in real terms or 5.9% as an annual average.
Engel’s coefficient decreased gradually. In 2021, China’s per capita expenditure on food, tobacco and alcohol was 7,178 yuan, an increase of 80.2% from 2012, or 6.8% on an average annual basis. .
The share of food, tobacco and alcohol expenditure in consumption expenditure (Engel’s coefficient) fell from 33% in 2012 to 29.8% in 2021, a decrease of 3.2 percentage points.
