BEIJING - The number of floating people - those who left their places of origin to seek employment or education elsewhere - is expected to increase by 6 million annually in the next five years to hit 291 million in 2020, a government report said Wednesday.

The report, which was released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said China had 253 million floating people at the end of 2014. The number represents about one sixth of the country's total population.

The report forecasts the floating population will increase at a lower rate than the previous five years, when the number of floating people grew by 8 million every year, according to the report.

It also said 55 percent of the floating people spent more than 3 years in the places where they currently lived and more than half of the floating population showed an interest in settling down.

The report added nearly 90 percent of the married floating people, who were born after 1980, were living with their spouses, and more and more children and senior citizens have also been integrated into floating families.