The number of China's single men could exceed the entire population of Australia in five years' time, a Fujian government statistician has calculated.

一名福建政府统计人员估计，五年之内，中国单身男性数量将会超过整个澳大利亚人口。

There are likely to be 118.9 boys born for every 100 girls by 2020, Yao Meixiong, deputy director of census¹ with the Fujian Provincial² Bureau of Statistics, told The Paper website.

福建省统计局（Fujian Provincial Bureau of Statistics）普查中心副主任姚美雄接受澎湃新闻（The Paper）网采访表示，预计到2020年，出生人口性别比（即出生100个女婴对应出生的男婴数）为118.9。

That would result in an extra 9.5 million men aged from 20 to 29, 12.6 million boys under 9-years-old and millions more in the ages in between. Australia's population is about 24 million.

这意味着，20—29岁的男性将比女性多出950万；9岁以下男孩比女孩多1260万；而9-20岁的男性会比女性多出几百万。而澳大利亚的人口为2400万。

At least 10 per cent of the nation's young men would not be able to find a spouse³ after 2020, Yao claimed, adding that the greatest imbalance would be among the youngest generation, meaning younger men would find it harder to find a partner.

姚美雄认为，2020年以后，一成以上年轻男性将找不到配偶，此外，越年轻的一代，男女比例失衡情况越严重，也就是说，越年轻的男性越难找到伴侣。

He suggested this could lead to a new social group of single men being formed, most of whom would be poor and likely to remain single for the rest of their lives.

他表示，社会由此将形成一个新的单身男性社会群体，他们大多数为贫穷男性，并且可能终生“打光棍”。

A census report of Xiamen city in Fujian found there were 111.69 men to every 100 women in 2000 but the imbalance has been worse – in 2010 it was 118.37 to 100.

福建省厦门市的一份人口普查报告显示，该市2000年出生人口性别比为111.69，2010年为118.37，性别比例失衡的情况更严重了。

The ratio was 108.47 in 1982, 115 in 1994 and 121.2 in 2004, according to government figures.

根据政府数据，该数字1982年为108.47，1994年为115，2004年为121.2。

Experts put the differences down to the one-child policy, gender⁴ selection procedures and a deeply rooted preference for boys over girls in Chinese families.

专家将此失衡归咎于“独生子女”政策、胎儿性别鉴定以及中国家庭根深蒂固的“重男轻女”观念。

Anhui, Hainan and Fujian provinces had the worst gender imbalances, said Wang Huirong, a Xiamen health department official.

厦门市卫计委工作负责人王辉荣表示，安徽、海南和福建性别比例失调最为严重。