FAQ - How many expats are there in Shanghai?

Alex C-G

How many expats are there in Shanghai

Like so many questions, this is not so easy to answer, mainly because defining an expat (and even defining Shanghai) can be difficult, and it's also tough to find up-to-date figures. When it comes to defining an expat, who do you include? Employees of foreign companies only? native English teachers? Hong Kongnese and Taiwanese? Returned overseas Chinese?

In terms of getting up-to-date information, the Shanghai Municipal Goverment website offers no joy, and the most recent survey was carried out in AmCham in 2003.

According to the (admittedly outdated) results of the 2003 AmCham survey, the total expat population (not including Hong Kong/Taiwanese) is about 200,000 (55% of Mainland China's expats, not including English teachers.) The Japanese are the largest group, and there are also lots of Americans, Germans, Brits and Aussies. Fewer in number are the other Europeans and Canadians.

There are more expats coming into Shanghai all the time, and the growth rate is projected to be about 35% per year (from 2004)

Facts and figures

• About 67 percent of the foreigners granted work permits in 2005 hold mid-level or senior management positions in FIEs, while only 14 percent work for domestic firms. About 90 percent of them have university degrees.
• About 2,038 foreigners holding a college degree or a lower education background are currently working in the city, accounting for about 13 percent of the city's total working expat population. (via China.org.cn)
• At the end of June, there were 41,290 foreign work permit holders in Shanghai. In the first 6 months of the year, the Shanghai Labour and Social Security Bureau granted 9,071 new work permits, 32 percent more than they did at the same time in 2004. (via Shanghai Daily)
• Total foreign work permit holders consist of 30.7 percent Japanese, 11.5 percent from the US, 9.7 percent Korean (presumably South Korean), and 48.1 percent from countries other than those three. (via Shanghai Daily)

As you can see, getting figures for the expat population is like getting blood from a stone. Short of going out there and counting, it'll be difficult to get even remotely accurate figures. Thanks to Chunki and Michael on for most of the info in this article.