June 11 marks the Chinese Population Day. 

Currently, Guangdong is in a crucial period of opportunity with both a demographic dividend and a talent dividend. To be more specific, the year 2022 has seen Guangdong's permanent residents remained the first in China, while its newly-born population kept leading the nation. At the same time, Guangdong has been constantly promoting active measures to support procreation while giving priority to education to improve the overall population quality and back up the province's modernization with a high-quality population.

Strong dynamics in Guangdong's population growth

According to the statistics released by the Bureau of Statistics of Guangdong Province in April, Guangdong's permanent residents reached 126.568 million in 2022, accounting for 8.97% of the total population in China, still ranking first in the nation; while the registered population in Guangdong reached 100.497 million with an increase of 1.028 million, up by 1.03%, making it a province whose permanent population and registered population both exceeded 100 million.

In the meantime, the working-age population in Guangdong also ranks first in China. According to the seventh national census in 2020 , the working-age population aged between 16 and 59 years old in Guangdong accounts for 67.86% of the province's permanent population, 5.59 percentage points higher than the national average level. Whereas in 2022, the working-age population in Guangdong hit 84.751 million, accounting for 9.68% of the national working-age population and 66.96% of the province's permanent population, 4.94 percentage points higher than the national average.

With strong internal and external dynamics, Guangdong's population size will remain stable for years to come, and the huge population size will still be the defining feature and significant advantage of the province, said Zhou Zhonggao, deputy director and researcher of the Research Center for Talent Development of Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences.

Rapid improvement in the public's understanding and appreciation of science and culture

Being committed to prioritizing education development, Guangdong has been deepening the comprehensive reform of education and promoting educational modernization. In doing so, in ten years, it has managed to add 2.57 million positions for compulsory education in public schools, increase the gross enrollment rate of higher education from 28.2% to 57.65%, and achieve full coverage of undergraduate universities and higher vocational colleges in its 21 cities at the prefectural level and above.

As shown by the results of the seventh national census, the higher education population in Guangdong has reached 19.78 million, accounting for 19.34 % of the population aged 15 and above. The figure ranked 12th in the country, four places higher than in 2010, demonstrating the rapid improvement in the public's understanding and appreciation of science and culture.

The past ten years also witnessed a significant promotion of the physical constitution, which is the cornerstone of population quality. In total, 264,000 beds were added in medical institutions around the province, and the average life expectancy of residents increased from 76.49 years to 79.31 years.

Zhou also noted that, as the province with the largest permanent population and rich human resources in China, Guangdong should accelerate the deployment of sufficient modern human resources with good quality, optimized structure and reasonable distribution, so as to improve the overall population quality. It is the fundamental requirement of high-quality population development, and will support Guangdong with human resources to take the lead in the Chinese path to modernization.

常住人口数量保持全国第一，广东如何推动人口高质量发展？

6月11日是中国人口日。在广东，全省现阶段正处于人口红利和人才红利叠加的重要机遇期。2022年，广东常住人口数量继续保持全国第一位，出生人口继续领跑全国。与此同时，广东还不断完善和落实积极生育支持措施，坚持教育优先发展，提高人口整体素质，以人口高质量发展支撑广东现代化建设。

广东人口增长动力依然强劲

今年4月初，广东省统计局发布统计数据显示，2022年，广东常住人口12656.8万人，占全国人口总量的8.97%，常住人口数量继续保持全国第一位；广东户籍人口10049.7万人，增加102.8万人，增长1.03%，成为全国常住人口与户籍人口同时达到过亿体量的省份。

同时，广东劳动年龄人口规模位居全国第一。第七次全国人口普查数据显示，广东16-59岁劳动年龄人口占全省常住人口的67.86%，高于全国平均水平5.59个百分点。

2022年，广东16-59岁劳动年龄人口8475.1万人，占全省常住人口的66.96%，高于全国平均水平4.94个百分点，广东劳动年龄人口占全国劳动年龄人口比重达到9.68%。

广东省社会科学院省人才发展研究中心副主任、研究员周仲高表示，广东人口增长的内外动力依然强劲，人口规模将会保持长期稳定，人口规模巨大仍是广东的基本省情和显著优势。

人口科学文化素质快速提升

广东坚持教育优先发展，深化教育领域综合改革，加快推进教育现代化，十年新增义务教育公办学位257万个，高等教育毛入学率从28.2%提高到57.65%，全省21个地级以上市实现本科高校、高职院校全覆盖。

第七次全国人口普查显示，广东高等教育人口达1978万人，占15岁及以上人口的19.34%，在全国排第12位，比2010年进步了4位。广东的人口科学文化素质快速提升。

十年间，全省新增医疗机构床位26.4万张，居民人均预期寿命从76.49岁提高到79.31岁，作为人口素质构成重要基石的人口健康素质明显提升。

周仲高表示，广东是全国第一常住人口大省，也是全国人力资源大省，加快配备素质优良、总量充裕、结构优化、分布合理的现代化人力资源，全面提高人口整体素质，是实现人口高质量发展的根本要求，将为广东在推进中国式现代化建设中走在前列提供重要人力资源支撑。

文字 | 羊城晚报全媒体记者 董柳
图片 | 羊城晚报全媒体记者梁喻 林桂炎
责编 | 王楠
翻译 | 洪婷