It is bordered by the provincial capital of Chengdu to the northwest, Deyang to the north, Suining to the northeast, Chongqing municipality to the east, and Neijiang to the west.

As of the 2020 Chinese census, Ziyang's total population was 2,308,631 inhabitants whom 867,119 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Yanjiang District.

Sichuan Provincial Women's Prison is in Yangma Town (养马镇), Jianyang,[3] which was previously under the jurisdiction of Ziyang.

[6]: 2–6  Like Sichuan as a whole, Ziyang's GDP rose by double-digit percentages in the early 2010s, before slowing down to high single-digit growth during the latter half of the decade.

[6]: 2–8 Major sources of employment in Ziyang outside of the primary sector include construction, manufacturing, and in hotels and catering.

[6]: 4–24 The city operated at a trade surplus in 2019, exporting 139.76 million RMB worth of goods and services out of China,[6]: 18-5  and importing 82.65 million RMB worth of goods and services from outside of China.