🇨🇳Average income in China

Key numbers

China among its neighbours

What this number is, and is not

GNI per capita is China's gross national income divided by its population. National income is everything residents earn in a year: wages, company profits, rent, interest, plus net income from abroad. Dividing by every resident, including children and pensioners, gives $29,160. The PPP conversion prices it in international dollars, so a dollar here buys roughly what a dollar buys in the United States.

It is not a median salary, and it is not take-home pay. It is before tax, it includes income that never reaches a payslip, and it is an average, which the highest earners pull upwards. The typical worker in China earns less than $29,160. How much less depends on inequality and on how many residents are of working age, neither of which this one number shows.

China is above the world figure of $25,517 and has 21% of the income per person of Singapore, the top of our list at $135,750.

Questions

What is the average income in China?

$29,160 per person per year, measured as GNI per capita at purchasing power parity (World Bank, 2025). Spread over twelve months that is about $2,430. It is the country's total income divided by every resident, including children and retirees, so it is a national average rather than a wage.

Is $29,160 what a typical worker in China earns?

No. The figure is before tax, counts company profits and rents as well as wages, and is averaged over the whole population. The median worker takes home less than this in every country, because a small number of high earners pull the average up. For an individual's position in China's income distribution, use the income test on this site.

How does China compare to Costa Rica?

Costa Rica ranks 68th at $30,760, $1,600 more per person than China. Against the world figure of $25,517, China is 1.1 times it and Costa Rica is 1.2 times it.