Everyone in the world is Chinese, but in fact 93% have never left the country

As of July 2025, the number of valid ordinary passports held in mainland China is about 160 million, and the passport-holding rate is only 11.3%
The number of mainland residents who have truly set foot in sovereign foreign countries is about 80 million to 100 million
In other words, about 1.31 billion to 1.33 billion people have never left the country, accounting for more than 93% of the total population
Among passport holders, there is also about half who are just keeping a backup passport without ever traveling abroad—having a passport sitting in a drawer, never used

🤔Why does it feel like everyone in the world is Chinese?
It’s not a mirage—it’s a concentration effect
These 100 million outbound travelers aren’t just people who have left the country; they are high-frequency travelers who repeatedly show up in the same batch of popular destinations. The Chinese faces you see at the LV entrance in Paris, at the Chiang Mai night market, and at Osaka’s Dotonbori are very likely people who come every year. Density creates an all-pervasive feeling, while the 1.3 billion people without passports have never come even once

🤔Why don’t 93% of people go abroad?
You can’t simply blame it on “not having money”; it’s the stacked effect of multiple structures:
- Inland provinces are far from the border exit ports themselves, and for residents of third- and fourth-tier cities, going abroad is a decision on a completely different scale
- A passport-holding rate of 11.3% shows that the vast majority have never even had the thought of applying for a passport; going abroad never even entered their life plans
- China’s population base is large enough that, for most daily needs, language, food, attractions, and shopping can be met domestically; the drive to go abroad is naturally weaker than in small-population countries
- Language barriers, visa complexity, and the vague sense of what lies beyond form psychological barriers for a large pool of potential travelers
For a Swiss person, not going abroad is like being stuck in one province, but for a Chinese person, not going abroad can mean going from Mohe all the way to Sanya

🤔What does this number mean?
A market of 100 million people has already caused global tourism to re-price itself—Japan’s inbound economy is under pressure, Thailand’s tourism cities are dealing with shocks from Chinese visitor flows, and this is only the prelude
If the passport-holding rate rises from 11% to even 20%, the global tourism map will be restructured again, dramatically
And among that 93%, a considerable portion of the younger generation are potential first-wave outbound travelers. With widespread mobile payments, short-video “tour” recommendations, and lower international airfares, these factors will gradually push that proportion upward over the next decade
The stretch from 11% to 20% in passport-holding rate may be the most important incremental story for the global tourism economy in the coming decade
What everyone sees is just the corner of the iceberg that appears above the water