(Yicai) Jan. 22 -- The Chinese mainland’s disposable income per person reached more than CNY39,000 (USD5,420) last year, according to the latest official data.

Per-capita disposable income, or income after tax, rose 6.3 percent to an average of CNY39,218 (USD5,450) in China’s 31 provincial-level regions, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Jan. 17. The real increase was 6.1 percent after factoring out price changes.

For urban residents, it climbed 5.1 percent to CNY51,821, with a real increase of 4.8 percent, while rural residents saw a 7.7 percent jump to CNY21,691, with real growth of 7.6 percent.

Shanghai residents had the biggest purchasing power in China last year at an average CNY84,834 per person, while those in Beijing were second with CNY81,752, by far the most among all regions. In comparison, inhabitants of Zhejiang province ranked third at CNY63,830.

Zhejiang’s local economy and private sector are highly developed, with minimal urban-rural disparities and high levels of income overall, Ding Changfa, an associate professor of economics at Xiamen University, told Yicai. And due to its high per-capita income, many people invest their earnings and thereby generate returns, Ding added.

Those living in eight other regions, all located in eastern coastal areas, had disposable incomes higher than the national average. The purchasing power of people in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Chongqing, Hunan, Hubei, and Anhui provinces was the highest in the central and western areas, which have high levels of industrialization and urbanization.

Editor: Martin Kadiev