China's demographic crisis reaches 'critical junction', likely to worsen in next decade

China’s ageing crisis is at a “critical juncture” as experts believe that the situation in the country will become worse in the next decade. According to the Renmin University of China Vice-President Du Peng, the country’s number of citizens aged over 60 is expanding by an average of 10 million per year. 

This rise in China’s ageing population strains the country’s economy since a massive chunk of the population will depend on state pensions and other social welfare funds. According to Peng, this acceleration will push the number of senior citizens in the country to 520 million by 2050, South China Morning Post reported. 

“The coming decade from now on is the most crucial juncture for China to actively respond to the ageing population,” Du said in an interview with Tencent Finance. Emphasising the severity of the situation, Du noted that the senior citizen population in the country can rise to 100 million in this decade. He highlighted that in 2050, 37.8 per cent of the population will be above the age of  60 causing a heavy burden on society, SCMP reported. 

Beijing acknowledges demographic challenges

In May this year, Beijing acknowledged the demographic challenges offered by the low birth rate and fast ageing society. The country is already struggling to recover from its sluggish economic momentum and vanishing demographic dividend. The situation became worse in 2020 when pensions overtook family support as the main source of income for China’s elderly population for the first time in the country’s history. 

In 2022, the Xi Jinping administration confirmed that it will gradually start pushing back its long-mandated retirement ages, i.e. 60 for men and 55 for women, SCMP reported. However, the country is yet to release a timetable and a constructive plan regarding the same. Meanwhile, The National Health Commission estimated that China will have 402 million people aged over 60 by 2040. The age crisis exists in other Asian nations as well. According to the World Health Organisation, in 2022,  29.1 per cent of Japan’s population was aged over 65, whereas the figure in South Korea stands at 17%