The National Bureau of Statistics website published the per capita disposable income of residents across 31 provinces for the first three quarters of 2026.
Residents' disposable income refers to the income that residents can freely dispose of, and is the sum of income available to residents for final consumption expenditure and savings. Disposable income includes both cash income and in-kind income. By source, disposable income comprises four components: wage income, net operating income, net property income, and net transfer income. Per capita disposable income of residents is the average obtained by dividing residents' disposable income by the resident population. This indicator can be used to measure residents' living standards and purchasing power, and provides an important reference for formulating policies to safeguard and improve people's livelihoods.
In the first three quarters, the national per capita disposable income of residents was 34,230 yuan, a nominal increase of 5.3% over the same period of the previous year, and a real increase of 4.4% after deducting price factors. By urban and rural breakdown, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 44,945 yuan, a nominal increase of 4.5% over the same period of the previous year, and a real increase of 3.6% after deducting price factors; the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 18,809 yuan, a nominal increase of 6.3% over the same period of the previous year, and a real increase of 5.6% after deducting price factors.
By province, in the first three quarters, 12 provinces had per capita disposable income of residents exceeding 30,000 yuan, among which Shanghai and Beijing both exceeded 70,000 yuan. Among them, in the first three quarters, Shanghai's per capita disposable income of residents was 72,175 yuan, ranking first; Beijing's per capita disposable income of residents was 70,405 yuan, ranking second; Zhejiang ranked third with 57,593 yuan. Tianjin, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Fujian had per capita disposable income of residents exceeding 40,000 yuan in the first three quarters, ranking fourth through seventh. Shandong, Chongqing, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, and Anhui had per capita disposable income of residents exceeding 30,000 yuan in the first three quarters, ranking eighth through twelfth.
Chongqing, Inner Mongolia, Anhui, Hunan, and Hubei ranked among the top in the central and western regions in terms of per capita disposable income of residents in the first three quarters. These provinces are also regions with relatively high levels of industrialization and urbanization in the central and western regions. As technological innovation becomes the fundamental driving force for development, a number of modern industrial clusters are accelerating their concentration in strong provincial capitals and central cities in the central and western regions. Industrial development drives rapid growth in employment, which in turn drives sustained and rapid growth in income levels.
In 2025, Anhui's R&D expenditure intensity reached 2.86%, ranking seventh and first in the central and western regions. Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province, had a citywide R&D investment intensity of 4.11%, firmly ranking third among provincial capitals. On July 27 of this year, Changxin Technology officially listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and Hefei became the fourth city by total A-share market capitalization. In recent years, the "chip, display, automobile, and integrated circuit" industries that Hefei has focused on developing have continuously created a large number of high-quality jobs, attracting a continuous influx of talent.
Hubei has 4 national strategic emerging industry clusters and 16 national innovative industry clusters, both ranking among the top in the country. In Wuhan's Optics Valley, from a single optical fiber to the entire industrial chain of optical display, optical modules, optical chips, and materials, 16,000 optoelectronic enterprises gather here, forming a trillion-yuan ecosystem of "optics, chips, screens, terminals, and networks."
Ding Changfa, associate professor of the Department of Economics at Xiamen University, analyzed that multiple new first-tier cities and strong provincial capitals in the central and western regions have a solid foundation in science, education, culture, and health resources, with strong higher education capabilities, gathering a large number of talents. As the business environment continues to be optimized and improved, the atmosphere for urban innovation is becoming increasingly strong. Through the accumulation of time, a number of relatively competitive technology enterprises have been nurtured, and industrial development has also gathered talent.
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