Markets
Map: China’s Provinces Rival Countries in Population Size
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Chart: China’s Provinces Rival Countries in Population Size
The very mention of China triggers both awe and anxiety in the mainstream media.
With the globe’s largest GDP (PPP) at $23.12 trillion, China is indisputably a close contender for the title of world’s largest economic superpower along with the United States.
But what makes this possible in the first place? The countryโs economic clout arguably stems from its human capital: a 1.4 billion-strong population.
A Force to be Reckoned With
Each of Chinaโs 33 distinct regions is home to a population size on par with entire countries:
Chinese Province | Population (millions) | Comparable Countries | Population (millions) |
---|---|---|---|
๐จ๐ณ Anhui | 62 | ๐ซ๐ท France | 64.5 |
๐จ๐ณ Beijing | 21.7 | ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland, ๐ธ๐ช Sweden, ๐ณ๐ด Norway | 20.7 |
๐จ๐ณ Chongqing | 30.5 | ๐ธ๐ฆ Saudi Arabia | 31.7 |
๐จ๐ณ Fujian | 38.7 | ๐ฆ๐ซ Afghanistan | 34.6 |
๐จ๐ณ Gansu | 26.1 | ๐พ๐ช Yemen | 29.1 |
๐จ๐ณ Guangdong | 110 | ๐ต๐ญ Philippines | 103.2 |
๐จ๐ณ Guangxi | 48.4 | ๐จ๐ด Colombia | 48.7 |
๐จ๐ณ Guizhou | 35.5 | ๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco | 34.5 |
๐จ๐ณ Hainan | 9.1 | ๐ฆ๐น Austria | 8.7 |
๐จ๐ณ Hebei | 74.7 | ๐น๐ญ Thailand | 69 |
๐จ๐ณ Heilongjiang | 38 | ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraq | 37.9 |
๐จ๐ณ Henan | 95.3 | ๐ช๐ฌ Egypt | 90.2 |
๐ญ๐ฐ Hong Kong | 7.3 | ๐ฏ๐ฒ Jamaica, ๐จ๐ท Costa Rica | 7.7 |
๐จ๐ณ Hubei | 58.8 | ๐ฐ๐ท South Korea | 51.2 |
๐จ๐ณ Hunan | 68.2 | ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom | 65.6 |
๐จ๐ณ Jiangsu | 80 | ๐น๐ท Turkey | 79.8 |
๐จ๐ณ Jiangxi | 45.9 | ๐ฆ๐ท Argentina | 43.6 |
๐จ๐ณ Jilin | 27.3 | ๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana | 27.6 |
๐จ๐ณ Liaoning | 43.8 | ๐ช๐ธ Spain | 46.4 |
๐ฒ๐ด Macau | 0.61 | ๐ฒ๐ช Montenegro | 0.62 |
๐จ๐ณ Inner Mongolia | 25.2 | ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark, ๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg, ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | 23.3 |
๐จ๐ณ Ningxia | 6.7 | ๐ธ๐ป El Salvador | 6.3 |
๐จ๐ณ Qinghai | 5.9 | ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore | 5.6 |
๐จ๐ณ Shaanxi | 38.1 | ๐ต๐ฑ Poland | 38 |
๐จ๐ณ Shandong | 99.5 | ๐ป๐ณ Vietnam | 92.7 |
๐จ๐ณ Shanghai | 24.2 | ๐ท๐ด Romania, ๐ญ๐ท Croatia | 24.5 |
๐จ๐ณ Shanxi | 36.8 | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | 36.2 |
๐จ๐ณ Sichuan | 82.6 | ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | 82.3 |
๐จ๐ณ Tianjin | 15.6 | ๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia, ๐จ๐ฟ Czech Republic | 16 |
๐จ๐ณ Xinjiang | 24 | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | 24.4 |
๐จ๐ณ Xizangย (Tibet) | 3.3 | ๐บ๐พ Uruguay | 3.5 |
๐จ๐ณ Yunnan | 47.7 | ๐ฐ๐ช Kenya | 45.4 |
๐จ๐ณ Zhejiang | 55.9 | ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | 55.6 |
To drill down further, China is composed of:
- 4 municipalities
- 5 autonomous regions
Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet, and Xinjiang - 2 special administrative regions (SAR)
Hong Kong and Macau
Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin
The remaining 22 are the officially-labeled provinces of China.
It’s worth noting that Taiwan is also claimed as one of China’s provinces, even though there is some ambiguity and disagreement around Taiwan’s actual political status.
Nevertheless, itโs clear that every region, and especially the massive cities with them, are substantial contributors to the country’s growth and success.
A New Demographic Era Ahead
Going forward, Chinaโs population may cease to be a strength that contributes to rapid economic growth.
In the wake of the infamous one child policy, the country could soon by dealing with the demographic time bomb of a rapidly aging population.
Source: Population Pyramid
By 2050, almost four in ten people in China will be above the age of 60, which will create an added strain on the already declining working-age population.
The good news for China?
The country is making moves to combat the challenges ahead, including ambitious plans to build a $1 trillion artificial intelligence industry by 2030 – an attempt to close the impending labor gap.
Markets
Mapped: The Growth in House Prices by Country
Global house prices were resilient in 2022, rising 6%. We compare nominal and real price growth by country as interest rates surged.

Mapped: The Growth in House Prices by Country
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Global housing prices rose an average of 6% annually, between Q4 2021 and Q4 2022.
In real terms that take inflation into account, prices actually fell 2% for the first decline in 12 years. Despite a surge in interest rates and mortgage costs, housing markets were noticeably stable. Real prices remain 7% above pre-pandemic levels.
In this graphic, we show the change in residential property prices with data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
The Growth in House Prices, Ranked
The following dataset from the BIS covers nominal and real house price growth across 58 countries and regions as of the fourth quarter of 2022:
Price Growth Rank | Country / Region | Nominal Year-over-Year Change (%) | Real Year-over-Year Change (%) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ๐น๐ท Tรผrkiye | 167.9 | 51.0 |
2 | ๐ท๐ธ Serbia | 23.1 | 7.0 |
3 | ๐ท๐บ Russia | 23.1 | 9.7 |
4 | ๐ฒ๐ฐ North Macedonia | 20.6 | 1.0 |
5 | ๐ฎ๐ธ Iceland | 20.3 | 9.9 |
6 | ๐ญ๐ท Croatia | 17.3 | 3.6 |
7 | ๐ช๐ช Estonia | 16.9 | -3.0 |
8 | ๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel | 16.8 | 11.0 |
9 | ๐ญ๐บ Hungary | 16.5 | -5.1 |
10 | ๐ฑ๐น Lithuania | 16.0 | -5.5 |
11 | ๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia | 15.4 | 4.2 |
12 | ๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria | 13.4 | -3.2 |
13 | ๐ฌ๐ท Greece | 12.2 | 3.7 |
14 | ๐ต๐น Portugal | 11.3 | 1.3 |
15 | ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom | 10.0 | -0.7 |
16 | ๐ธ๐ฐ Slovak Republic | 9.7 | -4.8 |
17 | ๐ฆ๐ช United Arab Emirates | 9.6 | 2.9 |
18 | ๐ต๐ฑ Poland | 9.3 | -6.9 |
19 | ๐ฑ๐ป Latvia | 9.1 | -10.2 |
20 | ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore | 8.6 | 1.9 |
21 | ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland | 8.6 | -0.2 |
22 | ๐จ๐ฑ Chile | 8.2 | -3.0 |
23 | ๐ฏ๐ต Japan | 7.9 | 3.9 |
24 | ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico | 7.9 | -0.1 |
25 | ๐ต๐ญ Philippines | 7.7 | -0.2 |
26 | ๐บ๐ธ United States | 7.1 | 0.0 |
27 | ๐จ๐ฟ Czechia | 6.9 | -7.6 |
28 | ๐ท๐ด Romania | 6.7 | -7.5 |
29 | ๐ฒ๐น Malta | 6.3 | -0.7 |
30 | ๐จ๐พ Cyprus | 6.3 | -2.9 |
31 | ๐จ๐ด Colombia | 6.3 | -5.6 |
32 | ๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg | 5.6 | -0.5 |
33 | ๐ช๐ธ Spain | 5.5 | -1.1 |
34 | ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland | 5.4 | 2.4 |
35 | ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | 5.4 | -5.3 |
36 | ๐ฆ๐น Austria | 5.2 | -4.8 |
37 | ๐ซ๐ท France | 4.8 | -1.2 |
38 | ๐ง๐ช Belgium | 4.7 | -5.7 |
39 | ๐น๐ญ Thailand | 4.7 | -1.1 |
40 | ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | 3.1 | -4.0 |
41 | ๐ฎ๐ณ India | 2.8 | -3.1 |
42 | ๐ฎ๐น Italy | 2.8 | -8.0 |
43 | ๐ณ๐ด Norway | 2.6 | -3.8 |
44 | ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesia | 2.0 | -3.4 |
45 | ๐ต๐ช Peru | 1.5 | -6.3 |
46 | ๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia | 1.2 | -2.6 |
47 | ๐ฐ๐ท South Korea | -0.1 | -5.0 |
48 | ๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco | -0.1 | -7.7 |
49 | ๐ง๐ท Brazil | -0.1 | -5.8 |
50 | ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | -2.3 | -10.2 |
51 | ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark | -2.4 | -10.6 |
52 | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | -3.2 | -10.2 |
53 | ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | -3.6 | -12.1 |
54 | ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | -3.7 | -13.7 |
55 | ๐จ๐ณ China | -3.7 | -5.4 |
56 | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | -3.8 | -9.8 |
57 | ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand | -10.4 | -16.5 |
58 | ๐ญ๐ฐ Hong Kong SAR | -13.5 | -15.1 |
Tรผrkiyeโs property prices jumped the highest globally, at nearly 168% amid soaring inflation.
Real estate demand has increased alongside declining interest rates. The government drastically cut interest rates from 19% in late 2021 to 8.5% to support a weakening economy.
Many European countries saw some of the highest price growth in nominal terms. A strong labor market and low interest rates pushed up prices, even as mortgage rates broadly doubled across the continent. For real price growth, most countries were in negative territoryโnotably Sweden, Germany, and Denmark.
Nominal U.S. housing prices grew just over 7%, while real price growth halted to 0%. Prices have remained elevated given the stubbornly low supply of inventory. In fact, residential prices remain 45% above pre-pandemic levels.
How Do Interest Rates Impact Property Markets?
Global house prices boomed during the pandemic as central banks cut interest rates to prop up economies.
Now, rates have returned to levels last seen before the Global Financial Crisis. On average, rates have increased four percentage points in many major economies. Roughly three-quarters of the countries in the BIS dataset witnessed negative year-over-year real house price growth as of the fourth quarter of 2022.
Interest rates have a large impact on property prices. Cross-country evidence shows that for every one percentage point increase in real interest rates, the growth rate of housing prices tends to fall by about two percentage points.
When Will Housing Prices Fall?
The rise in U.S. interest rates has been counteracted by homeowners being reluctant to sell so they can keep their low mortgage rates. As a result, it is keeping inventory low and prices high. Homeowners canโt sell and keep their low mortgage rates unless they meet strict conditions on a new property.
Additionally, several other factors impact price dynamics. Construction costs, income growth, labor shortages, and population growth all play a role.
With a strong labor market continuing through 2023, stable incomes may help stave off prices from falling. On the other hand, buyers with floating-rate mortgages face steeper costs and may be unable to afford new rates. This could increase housing supply in the market, potentially leading to lower prices.
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