China's annual migrant worker survey is out, and, as ever, it's a banger. Just a few of the hits:
1. Migrant employment in the construction sector fell by 6.5 million in 2023, the largest annual decline since the survey started in 2008. 1/
1. Migrant employment in the construction sector fell by 6.5 million in 2023, the largest annual decline since the survey started in 2008. 1/
Of course, it was the service sector that absorbed those workers. The re-opening of consumer-facing services helped 7.2 million migrants find work in the sector. Something policymakers should think about as they put all their eggs in the manufacturing bucket. 2/
2. Migrants are getting much older. For every migrant under the age of 30, there are now 1.8 migrants over the age of 50. That ratio is up sharply from 0.3 in 2010. 3/
3. Migrants don't migrate very far anymore. Only 38% worked outside their home province in '23, down from 53% in '08. A large portion don't even move at all. They just have an agriculture household registration but work in a non-agriculture sector in their home county... 4/
More interesting facts are in the full report on the NBS site here: (5/5) stats.gov.cn
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