Total population here refers to the year-end resident population. It measures the number of people recorded at 24:00 on December 31 of each year.

On this website, the total population series is shown in thousands. In the official source, the national annual population total does not include the populations of the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, Taiwan Province, or overseas Chinese residents.

Comparing provincial totals over time helps show where population size remains concentrated, where it is growing more slowly, and where longer-term demographic shifts are becoming more visible.