China in a Decade: Rapid Growth of Resident's Income with Improved Quality of Life

II. Optimized income distribution with narrowing income gaps

Since the 18th Party Congress, China has attached great importance to income distribution, and made efforts to deepen the reform of the income distribution system, the urban-rural income gap has continued to narrow with an improved distribution pattern.

1. The gap between urban and rural areas continues to narrow, and the income ratio decreases year by year

In 2021, the per capita disposable income of urban residents reached 47,412 yuan, an increase of 96.5% over 2012; the per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 18,931 yuan, an increase of 125.7% over 2012. From 2013 to 2021, the average annual income growth of rural residents was 1.7% faster than that of urban residents. In 2021, the urban to rural ratio registered at 2.5:1 in disposable income, down 0.38% from 2012, and the gap has narrowed continuously over the years.

2. Faster growth of resident’s income in the central and western region with a narrowing regional gap in general

In 2021, the per capita disposable income of residents in the eastern, central, western and northeastern regions reached 44,980, 29,650, 27,798 and 30,518 yuan, respectively, with a cumulative increase of 110.1%, 116.2%, 123.5% and 89.5% compared with 2012.