Shanghai has recently seen its population shrink for the first time this century. Here's some details of the demographic changes in the metropolis. The city saw its population grow over four years, from almost 2 percent in 2011, around one and a half percent in both 2012 and 2013, and down to half a percentage point in 2014. However, the growth percentage in 2015 was minus 0.4.

Shanghai's permanent population by the end of last year was 24.15 million, a decline of 100 thousand people year on year. The number of people without a hukou also dropped to 9.82 million, marking a decline of 1.5 percent or 150,000 people.