An already widening gap between rich and poor in the People’s Republic of China is likely to worsen due to its rapidly aging population.

Increasing life expectancy and the effect of a decades-long family planning policy that limited the number of children people could have is felt throughout the economy.

At the end of 2011, the number of people over 60 years old in the PRC reached 185 million or 14 percent of the population. By 2030, the PRC is expected to become the world’s most aged society, and by 2050, the number of elderly people is forecast to climb to 454 million, or 33 percent of the total population.

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Read the working paper

https://www.adb.org/publications/population-aging-and-inequality-evidence-prc

About the authors

Xudong Chen is a professor at the School of Business, Department of Finance and Accounting, Baldwin Wallace University.

Bihong Huang is a research fellow at ADBI.

Shaoshuai Li is a PhD candidate at the University of Macau.

Know more about ADBI’s work on aging

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