By the end of 2018, the permanent population of Xiamen has amounted to 4.11 million, an increase of 100,000 over the previous year, maintaining a growth rate of 2.5% -- 0.2 percentage points higher than the previous year. For the first time, the total resident population outside the island (Jimei, Tongan, Xiang'an and Haicang districts) exceeded that on the island (Huli and Siming districts), surpassing it by 18,000. 

As of the end of 2018, all districts in the city ranked from most populous to least populous were:

Huli district (1.03 million, 0.2 million less than the previous year and accounting for 25.1% of the city's total population); Siming district (1.02 million, an increase of 0.8 million over the previous year and accounting for 24.7% of the city's total population);

Jimei district (700,000, an increase of 26,000 over the previous year, accounting for 17.0% of the city's total population); Tongan district (611,000, an increase of 30,000 over the previous year, accounting for 14.9% of the city's total population);

Xiang'an district (378,000, an increase of 19,000 over the previous year and accounting for 9.2% of the city's total population);

Haicang district (375,000, an increase of 19,000 over the previous year and accounting for 9.1% of the city's total population). 

Meanwhile, the population outside the island reached 2.06 million, accounting for 50.2% of Xiamen's total population. The population of Siming and Huli districts on the island both exceeded 1 million and together accounted for 49.8% of the city's total population, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points from the previous year.