China’s Elderly Population Tops 323 Million

China’s population aged 60 and above reached 323.38 million at the end of 2025, accounting for 23.0% of the total population, according to the 2025 National Aging Development Bulletin released on July 31 by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Office of the National Working Commission on Aging. The total marks an increase of more than 100 million in a decade, a shift that Caixin Global said is expected to strain the pension system and reshape the economy. China News Service reported that the population aged 65 and above stood at 223.65 million, or 15.9% of the total.

Context: A Demographic Shift Gaining Speed

China had about 220 million people aged 60 or above in 2015. By the end of 2025, that figure had climbed by roughly 47% to 323.38 million, a number comparable to the population of the United States. The bulletin put the old-age dependency ratio for those 65 and over at 23.1%, nearly double a decade earlier, and average life expectancy at 79.25 years.

The annual bulletin tracks progress under China’s national strategy to address population aging. State broadcaster CCTV gave the release prominent coverage, underscoring its policy significance.

Key Developments: What the Bulletin Shows

Pension and health coverage expanded further in 2025. Basic pension insurance covered 1.07591 billion people, up 3.09 million from a year earlier, while basic medical insurance covered 1.33069 billion people, with coverage stable at 95%. Long-term care insurance paid benefits to 1.9291 million people, and personal pension accounts held cumulative deposits of 145.2 billion yuan.

Care infrastructure grew as well. The bulletin counted 395,000 care facilities nationwide with 7.679 million beds, below an earlier target of about 9 million. Community meal-assistance points reached 80,000, serving more than 3 million seniors daily, and county-level public elder care institutions now cover every county region. In health, about 146 million people aged 65 and over received free primary-level health management services, and 8,289 institutions offered integrated medical and elder care.

The legal dimension was also prominent. Legal Daily reported that public security organs investigated 551 criminal cases of illegal fundraising and 6,847 fraud cases in the elder-care sector in 2025. Market regulators filed 6,175 cases over false advertising of drugs and health products targeting seniors, with fines and confiscations of about 104 million yuan. Prosecutors supported 1,434 lawsuits for elderly plaintiffs, and legal aid agencies handled more than 90,000 cases for older people.

Analysis: Record Numbers, Structural Strains

The figures highlight both progress and strain. A dependency ratio of 23.1% means that, in ratio terms, roughly four working-age adults support each senior — a far heavier burden than a decade ago. With birth rates low and family-based care weakening, pressure on pensions and health services will intensify.

The bulletin paints a progress-oriented picture: more beds, more trained caregivers, and stronger legal safeguards. Yet gaps remain. The 7.679 million beds are short of earlier targets, and the care workforce of 1.395 million remains small relative to projected demand. Rural areas face particular stress as younger workers leave.

Beijing has responded with delayed retirement reforms beginning in 2025, expanded long-term care insurance pilots, and a push to develop the silver economy. The People’s Bank of China has set up a 500 billion yuan re-lending facility for elderly care, and more than 80 million travel-elderly trips were recorded in 2025. More than 9,000 old residential communities were renovated for aging last year. Aging has become a core economic and social policy issue, not just a welfare concern.

What to Watch

The next tests will be closing the gap between targets and delivery. Watch for the fate of the national bed target in the next five-year plan, the rollout of delayed retirement, and the financing of nationwide long-term care insurance. Provincial disparities also matter: several provinces already have old-age dependency ratios above 25%. With 323 million seniors, China is managing a population roughly the size of the United States, and the world will be watching its approach as a template for rapidly aging societies.