China, year by year

Every index this site holds for China, in time order: 12 series across 1990–2025, each value as its source published it. The profile shows the latest snapshot; this is the record behind it.

HDI since 1990

Human development rose from 0.491 in 1990 to 0.797 in 2023.

UNDP Human Development Report, 2025 edition. 34 annual values, none interpolated.

Twenty years here

The world report

Life expectancy at birth: 78 years2024at birthUp 3.9 years from 74.1 years in 2005
Internet users: 92%2025of people onlineUp 81 points from 11% in 2006
Urban population: 66%2025of people in towns and citiesUp 22 points from 44% in 2006
Births per woman: 1.012024births per womanDown 0.61 from 1.62 in 2005
Renewable share of energy: 15%2021of energy usedDown 5 points from 20% in 2004
Access to electricity: 100%2024of people with electricityUp 2 points from 98% in 2005
Infant mortality: 42024deaths before age one, per 1,000 birthsDown 15 from 19 in 2005
CO2 emissions per person: 9.3 t2024of CO2 per person a yearUp 4.5 t from 4.8 t in 2005
Forest area: 24%2023of land under forestUp 4 points from 20% in 2004

World Bank, from the first to the last observed year of each indicator; each has its own window.

All indexes, 1990–2025

36 years · 12 series · 3 values marked for checking

Year	HDI0–1	Life expectancy at birthyears	Internet users% of people	Urban population% of people	Births per womanbirths	Renewable share of energy% of energy	Access to electricity% of people	Infant mortalityper 1,000 births	CO2 emissions per persont/year	Forest area% of land	GDP per capitaUS$	GDP per capita, PPPintl $
1990	0.491	68.2	—	—	2.51	33.9	—	43	2.1	16.7	—	—
1991	0.499	68.6	—	26.9	1.93	33.1	—	43	2.2	16.9	—	—
1992	0.511	69.1	—	27.5	1.78	32.8	—	42	2.3	17.2	—	—
1993	0.522	69.5	0.0	28.0	1.69	31.5	—	41	2.5	17.4	—	—
1994	0.532	69.8	0.0	28.5	1.63	31.1	—	40	2.6	17.6	—	—
1995	0.543	70.4	0.0	29.0	1.59	29.4	—	39	2.8	17.8	—	—
1996	0.555	70.8	0.0	30.5	1.55	30.5	—	37	2.7	18.0	—	—
1997	0.566	71.2	0.0	31.9	1.53	30.0	—	36	2.8	18.2	—	—
1998	0.576	71.6	0.2	33.4	1.52	29.5	—	34	2.8	18.4	—	—
1999	0.587	72.0	0.7	34.8	1.53	30.3	—	32	2.8	18.6	—	—
2000	0.598	72.3	1.8	36.4	1.63	29.6	97	30	2.9	18.9	—	—
2001	0.608	72.7	2.6	37.7	1.56	28.4	97	28	3.0	19.1	—	—
2002	0.619	73.0	4.6	39.1	1.57	27.0	97	26	3.2	19.4	—	—
2003	0.630	73.4	6.2	40.5	1.57	23.9	97	23	3.7	19.6	—	—
2004	0.642	73.7	7.3	41.8	1.61	20.2	98	21	4.2	19.9	—	—
2005	0.654	74.1	8.5	43.0	1.62	17.4	98	19	4.8	20.1	—	—
2006	0.666	74.4	10.5	44.3	1.64	16.4	98	18	5.3	20.4	2129	5946
2007	0.680	74.8	16.0	45.9	1.67	14.9	99	16	5.7	20.6	2735	6935
2008	0.689	74.8	22.6	47.0	1.70	14.1	99	15	5.8	20.9	3523	7713
2009	0.700	75.3	28.9	48.3	1.71	13.4	99	14	6.3	21.1	3898	8448
2010	0.710	75.7	34.3	49.2	1.69	12.3	100	12	6.8	21.4	4629	9411
2011	0.717	75.9	38.3	51.8	1.67	11.3	100	11	7.4	21.6	5704	10457
2012	0.725	76.2	42.3	53.1	1.80	11.5	100	11	7.6	21.8	6405	11420
2013	0.733	76.5	45.8	54.5	1.71	11.5	100	10	7.9	22.0	7147	12228
2014	0.742	76.7	47.9	55.8	1.77	11.9	100	9	7.9	22.2	7781	12942
2015	0.750	77.0	50.3	57.3	1.67	12.2	100	8	7.8	22.4	8175	13463
2016	0.758	77.2	53.2	58.8	1.77	12.6	100	8	7.8	22.6	8255	14157
2017	0.765	77.2	54.3	60.2	1.80	13.1	100	7	7.9	22.8	8980	15022
2018	0.774	77.7	65.4	61.5	1.54	13.5	100	6	8.2	23.0	10086	16298
2019	0.781	77.9	64.1	62.7	1.50	14.3	100	6	8.4	23.2	10343	17601
2020	0.786	78.0	70.0	63.5	1.24	14.9	100	6	8.5	23.4	10627	18267
2021	0.794	78.1	73.0	64.7	1.12	15.2	100	5	8.9	23.6	12887	20843
2022	0.796	78.2	75.6	65.2	1.03	—	100	5	8.9	23.8	12971	23028
2023	0.797	78.0	90.6	65.5	1.00	—	100	4	9.2	24.0	12951	25200
2024	—	78.0	92.0	65.9	1.01	—	100	4	9.3	—	13293	27140
2025	—	—	91.6	66.3	—	—	—	—	—	—	13862	29333
On the profile	0.797	78.0	91.6	66.3	1.01	15.2	—	—	9.3	24.0	13862	29333

Sources: HDI: UNDP HDR 2025; Life expectancy at birth: World Bank SP.DYN.LE00.IN; Internet users: World Bank IT.NET.USER.ZS; Urban population: World Bank SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS; Births per woman: World Bank SP.DYN.TFRT.IN; Renewable share of energy: World Bank EG.FEC.RNEW.ZS; Access to electricity: World Bank EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS; Infant mortality: World Bank SP.DYN.IMRT.IN; CO2 emissions per person: World Bank EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5; Forest area: World Bank AG.LND.FRST.ZS; GDP per capita: World Bank NY.GDP.PCAP.CD; GDP per capita, PPP: World Bank NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD. Profile snapshot from the site dataset regenerated 2026-10-04. Observed years only.

A dotted value moved sharply against the previous observed value in its series, which is the usual signature of a series break or a source revision; it is a prompt to check, not a judgement. The last row, On the profile, is the figure the country profile shows today, set under its series so the two can be checked against each other. ≠ marks a difference of more than 2%: none on this page.

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