Ningbo's permanent population nears 10m

Ningbo had a permanent population of 9.62 million as of the end of 2022, 74,000 more than the previous year, according to a communiqué released by the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Statistics on Feb 22.

The city is still the third most populous city in Zhejiang, following Hangzhou and Wenzhou, which had 12.38 million and 9.68 million permanent residents respectively.

Zhejiang's permanent resident population rose by 370,000 last year. One out of every five new permanent residents in the province was in Ningbo.

The city's population inflow exceeded that of provinces including Hainan, Guizhou, Gansu, and is second only to Hangzhou (172,000) in Zhejiang.

The number of new permanent residents in Hangzhou and Ningbo, two economic powerhouses known for highly developed service and manufactured sectors, accounted for two-thirds of Zhejiang's total in 2022.

During the same period, Ningbo's birth rate and mortality rate were the same, both standing at 0.63 percent, which means that the city's natural growth rate has returned to zero.

Ningbo's birth rate and natural growth rate have declined significantly since 2020. The birth rate has fallen below 0.8 percent for three consecutive years, while the natural growth rate turned negative for the first time in 2021.