Digital 2024: China
PLEASE NOTE…
We publish regular updates to the Global Digital Reports series.Click here to ensure you’re using our latest data for China.
This page contains all the latest data, insights, and trends you need to help you understand how people in China use digital devices and services in 2024.
If you want to check whether this is our most up-to-date report for China, or if you’re looking for data on digital trends and behaviours in China for previous years, you can find DataReportal’s full collection of reports on China by clicking here.
You’ll also find the complete Digital 2024 report for China in the “full report” section below, but we’ll start by taking a look at the essential headline numbers for China this year.
Just before that, we’d like to thank We Are Social and Meltwater for making the 2024 Global Digital Reports series possible.
OK, let’s get into the data…
The state of digital in China in 2024
Here are DataReportal’s essential headlines for digital adoption and use in China in early 2024:
There were 1.09 billion internet users in China at the start of 2024, when internet penetration stood at 76.4 percent.
China was home to 1.06 billion social media users in January 2024, equating to 74.2 percent of the total population.
A total of 1.76 billion cellular mobile connections were active in China in early 2024, with this figure equivalent to 123.6 percent of the total population.
These headline stats offer a great overview of the “state of digital” in China, but in order to make sense of how digital trends and behaviours are evolving, we need to dig deeper into the data.
Let’s take a closer look at what the latest numbers tell us, starting with some valuable context relating to the population of China.
Population of China in 2024
The population of China stood at 1.43 billion in January 2024.
Data shows that China’s population decreased by 356 thousand (-0.02 percent) between early 2023 and the start of 2024.
49.0 percent of China’s population is female, while 51.0 percent of the population is male.
At the start of 2024, 64.9 percent of China’s population lived in urban centres, while 35.1 percent lived in rural areas.
Note: gender data are currently only available for “female” and “male”.
China’s population by age
The median age of China’s population is 39.2.
Here’s how China’s total population breaks down by age group:
4.1 percent is between the ages of 0 and 4.
9.9 percent is between the ages of 5 and 12.
6.0 percent is between the ages of 13 and 17.
7.8 percent is between the ages of 18 and 24.
13.6 percent is between the ages of 25 and 34.
15.2 percent is between the ages of 35 and 44.
15.2 percent is between the ages of 45 and 54.
13.6 percent is between the ages of 55 and 64.
14.4 percent is aged 65 and above.
Note: percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.
Internet use in China in 2024
There were 1.09 billion internet users in China in January 2024.
China’s internet penetration rate stood at 76.4 percent of the total population at the start of 2024.
Kepios analysis indicates that internet users in China increased by 11 million (+1.0 percent) between January 2023 and January 2024.
For perspective, these user figures reveal that 336.4 million people in China did not use the internet at the start of 2024, suggesting that 23.6 percent of the population remained offline at the beginning of the year.
However, complexities associated with the collection and analysis of internet user data mean that it can often take several months before research is ready for publication. As a result, the latest published figures for internet use invariably under-represent reality, and actual adoption and growth may be higher than the figures shown here suggest. Please see our comprehensive notes on data for further details.
Dig deeper: for the latest insights into internet adoption and use around the world, follow our regular Global Statshot reports.
Internet connection speeds in China in 2024
Data published by Ookla indicate that internet users in China could have expected the following internet connection speeds at the start of 2024:
Median mobile internet connection speed via cellular networks: 161.56 Mbps.
Median fixed internet connection speed: 248.92 Mbps.
Ookla’s data reveals that the median mobile internet connection speed in China increased by 52.16 Mbps (+47.7 percent) in the twelve months to the start of 2024.
Meanwhile, Ookla’s data shows that fixed internet connection speeds in China increased by 34.31 Mbps (+16.0 percent) during the same period.
Social media statistics for China in 2024
DataReportal’s figures show that there were 1.06 billion active social media user identities in China in January 2024.
Note: over the past year, we’ve made some important changes to how we calculate social media user numbers, and the data sources that we use to inform these calculations have also made significant and wide-ranging revisions to their published figures during that period.
As a result, our latest figure for social media use might appear to be quite different to the values that we published in previous years.
Because of this, we advise caution when comparing the social media user values published in this year’s reports with those published in previous years, especially because changes in reported values may be the result of “corrections” in the source data, as well as changes in actual user behaviour.
For clarity, Kepios analysis shows that social media users in China increased by 30 million (+2.9 percent) between early 2023 and the beginning of 2024.
The number of social media users in China at the start of 2024 was equivalent to 74.2 percent of the total population, but it’s important to stress that social media users may not represent unique individuals (see our detailed notes on data to learn why).
Meanwhile, data published in the ad planning tools of top social media platforms indicates that there were 899.6 million users aged 18 and above using social media in China at the start of 2024, which was equivalent to 79.0 percent of the total population aged 18 and above at that time.
More broadly, 97.1 percent of China’s total internet user base (regardless of age) used at least one social media platform in January 2024.
At that time, 48.6 percent of China’s social media users were female, while 51.4 percent were male.
Note: gender data are currently only available for “female” and “male”.
Mobile connections in China in 2024
Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 1.76 billion cellular mobile connections in China at the start of 2024.
However, note that many people around the world make use of more than one mobile connection – for example, they might have one connection for personal use, and another one for work – so it’s not unusual for mobile connection figures to significantly exceed figures for total population.
GSMA Intelligence’s numbers indicate that mobile connections in China were equivalent to 123.6 percent of the total population in January 2024.
The number of mobile connections in China increased by 67 million (+4.0 percent) between the start of 2023 and the start of 2024.
Additional resources
Just before we get to the full report, here are some suggestions for further reading, which will provide additional context for our full set of Digital 2024 numbers for China:
Read our complete Digital 2024 Global Overview Report to get a comprehensive overview of the “state of digital” around the world in 2024.
Click here to see all of the Global Digital Reports we’ve published on China over the past decade.
Explore all of our reports on countries in Eastern Asia by clicking here.
Visit our complete online reports library to find all of the (free!) reports in the Global Digital Reports series.
If you’d like to receive updates when we publish new reports, click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Full report
You’ll find our complete Digital 2024: China report in the embed below (click here if you can’t see that, or if you can’t change the slides).