Society

Shanghai's elderly population exceeds 23 percent

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-19 14:42

SHANGHAI - The latest statistics show that approximately one out of four registered citizens in the megacity of Shanghai, known to most as China's financial center, are senior citizens above the age of 60.

According to statistics released Monday by Shanghai's Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs and the Senior Citizens' Work Committee, registered population of the municipality reached 14.12 million by the end of 2010. Citizens over 60 years of age numbered 3.31 million, or 23.4 percent of the total registered population.

China's elderly population clocked in 167.14 million at the end of 2009, or about 12.5 percent of the country's total population, according to an earlier report released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

It is estimated that China's elderly population will continue to rise in the 2011-2015 period. By 2015, it is predicted that the number of registered elderly in Shanghai will be 4.3 million, or about 30 percent of the city's total registered population.

Another estimate states that 80 percent of Shanghai's elderly population in 2013 will be from the one-child families.

According to global standards, a country or region is considered to have an "aging society" when the number of people over the age of 60 reaches ten percent or more of its population.