According to the statistical communiqu? at the end of 2005, China's population totaled 1.30756 billion, increasing 7.68 million over the previous year. The year 2005 saw 16.17 million births nationwide, representing a birth rate of 12.40 per thousand, and 8.49 million deaths, or a mortality rate of 6.51 per thousand. The year's natural growth rate was 5.89 per thousand.

    In 2005, the annual per-capita net income of rural households was 3,255 yuan, a real increase of 6.2 percent after allowing for price factors. The per-capita disposable income of urban households was 10,493 yuan, a real increase of 9.6 percent. The Engel coefficient (which refers to the proportion of food expenditure to the total consumption expenditure of households) was 45.5 percent for rural households and 36.7 percent for urban households. The population in absolute poverty in rural areas (calculated on the basis of annual per-capita net income of 683 yuan) was 23.65 million at the end of 2005, a decline of 2.45 million over the previous year. The low-income population in rural areas (based on the standard of annual per-capita net income between 684 and 944 yuan) was 40.67 million, a decline of 9.1 million.