Elderly residents taste longevity noodles while volunteers accompany them at a community care center during the Double Ninth Festival, also known as Chongyang Festival, on October 18, 2026 in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province of China. Image source, VCG via Getty Images
ByOsmond ChiaBusiness reporter
  • Published33 minutes ago

Families in China are for the first time supporting more elderly people than children, the country's government has said.

Official data released in the last week, external show the ratio of China's dependent elderly people compared to the working age population rose to 23% last year, overtaking the figure for children, which stood at 22%.

The numbers are closely watched for signs of how China's shrinking workforce will impact both the world's second largest economy and global growth as a whole.