Short answer: 300 words for HSK 1, 2,000 for HSK 4, 5,400 for HSK 6, and 11,000 for HSK 7–9. Below are the full numbers for every level of the new HSK (HSK 3.0): words, characters to read, characters to write and grammar points, all counted from the official exam syllabus.
Each level adds new words on top of everything before it. Levels 7–9 are one advanced band with a single word list.
| Level | New words | Words in total | New grammar entries | Grammar entries in total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 | 70 | 70 |
| HSK 2 | 200 | 500 | 78 | 148 |
| HSK 3 | 500 | 1,000 | 96 | 244 |
| HSK 4 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 95 | 339 |
| HSK 5 | 1,600 | 3,600 | 70 | 409 |
| HSK 6 | 1,800 | 5,400 | 50 | 459 |
| HSK 7–9 | 5,600 | 11,000 | — | — |
Grammar is counted as the numbered entries in the syllabus grammar tables for Levels 1–6. One entry can cover several related words or patterns, so other lists that number grammar points differently will give other totals. Levels 7–9 have their own advanced grammar table, from word formation and word classes to fixed formats, complex sentences and discourse; it is not counted here.
The new HSK has two character lists. You need to recognize 3,088 characters by Levels 7–9, and to write 1,200 of them by hand. Every character on the writing list is also on the reading list.
| Level | Characters to read | Characters to write | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | In total | New | In total | |
| HSK 1 | 246 | 246 | 100* | 100 |
| HSK 2 | 125 | 371 | ||
| HSK 3 | 284 | 655 | 150 | 250 |
| HSK 4 | 441 | 1,096 | 150 | 400 |
| HSK 5 | 431 | 1,527 | 150 | 550 |
| HSK 6 | 413 | 1,940 | 150 | 700 |
| HSK 7–9 | 1,148 | 3,088 | 500 | 1,200 |
* The syllabus gives one writing list of 100 characters for Levels 1 and 2 together.
The new HSK asks for more words at every level, but the gap closes at the top. The old HSK 6 jumped by 2,500 words in a single level; the new HSK 6 adds 1,800.
Old HSK (2.0) New HSK (3.0)
For more on what changed, read HSK 3.0 vs HSK 2.0.
A useful way to read these numbers: how many of a level's new words are written only with characters from earlier levels? Those words need no new character, just a new combination or a new sense of a character you know.
At HSK 2 and 3 it is under a third. At HSK 5 it is close to 59%, and at HSK 6 and Levels 7–9 about two thirds. Knowing both characters does not always tell you what a word means, so these words still need learning. But they are much easier to remember, and this is why learning characters early pays off. The full HSK 4 word list marks which characters are new at Level 4.
300 words. HSK 2 adds 200 more, so you need 500 by HSK 2.
2,000 in total: the 1,000 new Level 4 words plus the 1,000 from Levels 1–3.
5,400 in total. The old HSK 6 asked for 5,000.
Levels 7–9 add 5,600 words, for 11,000 in total.
To read: 246 for HSK 1, 655 by HSK 3, 1,940 by HSK 6 and 3,088 by HSK 7–9. To write by hand: 100 by HSK 2, 250 by HSK 3, 700 by HSK 6 and 1,200 by HSK 7–9.
They quote the Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education (GF 0025—2021), a national standard published in 2021. The HSK exam syllabus, published in November 2025 and in use from July 2026, sets 300 words for Level 1, and that is what the exam tests.
Not sure which level you are at? The free 3-minute level test tells you where to begin. Preparing for HSK 4? The HSK 4 Pack has 10 units of exam practice and two full mock exams.
Take the free level test →Related: New HSK 4 word list · All 300 Level 1 words · HSK 3.0 vs 2.0 · Interactive word list
Source: HSK exam syllabus (published November 2025, in use from July 2026): word, character and grammar lists. Counts are syllabus entries; some word forms are listed more than once, for different readings or meanings. Old HSK totals are from the HSK 2.0 word lists. Not affiliated with CTI.