The permanent population of China's capital Beijing was pegged around 21.7 million by the end of 2015, close to Australia's, despite it being the slowest growth in years, according to an official data released today.
Defined as people who have lived in the city for six months or more, the permanent population in Beijing recorded a yearly growth of 0.9 per cent in 2015, down from the growth of 2.9 per cent in 2011, a report released by the Beijing Statistics Bureau and the National Bureau of Statistics said.
The city is home to 8.2 million non-locals, about 38 per cent, which is also noticeably slower as the city continues to move out "non-capital functions," according to the report.
Beijing has sought to address its "urban diseases," such as traffic congestion and air pollution, by curbing its population growth and transferring facilities to nearby regions, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
It is also building a second administrative centre in Tongzhou, about 40 minutes drive from the city centre hoping to relocate about 400,000 residents from the city centre to the suburban district.
The dwindling non-local influx, however, has reduced the city's work-age population.
People between 15 and 64 accounted for 79.6 per cent of the city's permanent population by the end of 2015, down from 81.9 per cent in 2011, the report said.
The population of Australia is over 23 million.
