(Yicai Global) Oct. 21 -- Shanghai ranked first for consumption expenditure per head among 31 provincial-level administrative areas in the Chinese mainland in the first nine months of this year, based on a comparison of data from local statistics bureaus.

The city’s per capita consumption expenditure jumped 15.7 percent to CNY35,500 (USD5,550) in the January to September period from a year earlier. Second-ranked Beijing’s rose 13.7 percent to at CNY31,800. They were the only two to exceed CNY30,000.

Eight of the 31 areas topped the national average of CNY17,275. Of them, seven, all located in economically developed eastern coastal areas, had per capita consumption expenditure of more than CNY20,000 each.

Zhejiang province ranked third with CNY27,100, while Tianjin was fourth with CNY24,400. Guangdong province, whose gross domestic product has ranked first among the 31 for a long time, rounded out the top five at CNY23,300.

At CNY17,400, eighth-placed Chongqing was the only provincial-level area in central and east China with above-average per capita consumption expenditure.

Higher urbanization rates generally mean higher per capita income, and therefore higher per capita consumption, according to Peng Peng, executive director of the Guangdong System Reform Research Society. 

There is also consumption in rural areas but the amount is much smaller in general, with basic living costs making up a large part of that, he told Yicai Global. But in cities, all manner of consumption tends to increase a lot.

Chongqing also has the highest urbanization rate in central and west China. According to the results of China’s seventh census, Chongqing’s urbanization rate was even higher than that of Fujian, a southeastern coastal province, at almost 70 percent, or more specially 69.46 percent. That put Chongqing eighth among the 31 provincial areas.

With a 100-plus million population, the Sichuan-Chongqing region is a huge market that has attracted domestic and overseas businesses to speed up expansion there, Peng said.

In addition, Chongqing’s consumption culture is strong, he noted. Although incomes are not as high as in the coastal areas, locals are emboldened to spend more because generally prices, including housing prices, are relatively low.

Editors: Xu Wei, Peter Thomas