Guiyang, Guizhou?- 3.26 million people belonging to ethnic minority groups in Southwest China’s Guizhou province have moved out over the past decade, a local official said.

Liu Daichun, chief of the provincial census office said in a press conference held in Guiyang on Tuesday that the ethnic minority population in Guizhou had decreased by almost 790,000.

“People from ethnic minorities make up 45 percent of the total number who have migrated to other regions and provinces, and it is the main reason why there has been a drop in population among ethnic groups in recent years,” said Chen Yingfang, the office’s vice-chief.

However, Chen said that number of Han Chinese in Guizhou had increased by 290,000 over the decade.

The latest nationwide census has found that the population in Guizhou decreased by almost half a million during the past decade, a 0.14 percent year-on-year fall. The province is now maintaining a population of 35 million, with 36 percent of people from ethnic groups.

Meanwhile, the figures also disclosed that the province’s urban population is approaching 12 million, a ten percent increase over the past ten years.