BEIJING (Reuters) -Income per capita in China grew by just 2.9% in real terms over 2022, after increasing by 8.1% a year earlier, returning to a growth rate similar to that of 2020 when China was battling COVID and introducing sweeping lockdowns and other restrictions.
Per capita spending also decreased by 0.2% in real terms, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its annual statistical communique on Tuesday.
Income per capita in China grew to 36,883 yuan ($5,310) over 2022, while spending per capita increased to 24,538 yuan ($3,533), the NBS said.
Rural areas performed better than urbanised zones, with the incomes of rural households growing by 4.2% in real terms on the year, compared with 1.9% growth in real terms for urban residents.
Urban and rural residents alike saw their incomes grow far slower this year, however, with urban residents seeing their incomes grow by 7.7% in 2021 and rural households by 9.7%, both in real terms.
(Reporting by Joe Cash and Liz Lee; Editing by Tom Hogue)
