The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Working Commission on Aging have jointly released the 2025 National Report on Aging Development, offering a comprehensive look at China's evolving demographic landscape. The data reveals that by the end of 2025, the population aged 60 and above across the country (excluding Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) reached 323.38 million, accounting for 23.0% of the total population. Meanwhile, the 65-and-older demographic stood at 223.65 million, representing 15.9% of the nation's populace, with the national average life expectancy rising to 79.25 years.

The report highlights that the dependency ratio for those aged 65 and over is 23.1%. This metric, which compares the number of elderly individuals to the working-age population, indicates that for every 100 working-age people, there are approximately 23 elderly individuals to support. In terms of social security, coverage for basic pension insurance continued to expand. By the end of 2025, a total of 1.07591 billion people were enrolled in basic pension insurance nationally, an increase of 3.09 million from the previous year. Among them, urban workers covered by the system numbered 546.72 million, up by 12.2 million, while enterprise employees accounted for 484.09 million, a rise of 7.91 million. Additionally, 529.19 million people participated in the basic pension insurance for urban and rural residents, with 188.2 million actually receiving benefits.

Regarding the adjustment of basic pensions for retirees from both enterprises and government institutions, the overall adjustment rate nationwide was 2% in 2025. The minimum standard for the national basic pension for urban and rural residents was raised by 20 yuan. Furthermore, as of the end of 2025, cumulative deposits into individual pension accounts reached 145.2 billion yuan. As China's elderly population grows and the degree of aging deepens, issues related to elderly care, medical services, nursing, rehabilitation, and social participation have become focal points of public discussion.

Reforms in elderly care services have been advancing. By the end of 2025, the country had 395,000 various types of elderly care institutions and facilities (including those integrating medical and elderly care), providing a total of 7.679 million beds. This includes 39,200 registered elderly care institutions with 4.984 million beds (69.9% of which are nursing-type beds), and 356,100 community-based elderly care service facilities offering 2.695 million beds. Nationwide, there are 4,730 county-level public elderly care institutions, achieving 100% coverage. Additionally, there are 16,000 rural institutions for providing support to the extremely poor, over 140,000 mutual-aid elderly care service facilities, and 900 million yuan was invested to support the establishment of home-based elderly care beds in 50 project areas. By the end of 2025, there were 80,000 meal assistance points for the elderly, serving over 3 million seniors daily.

In terms of talent development for elderly care services, vocational education programs established 3,922 specialized courses related to the field in 2025. Meanwhile, 41 universities and colleges offered 51 specialized programs, such as health and elderly care services management. A new occupation, "Elderly Care Service Specialist," was created, and the "New Eight-Level" vocational skill evaluation system was fully implemented. By the end of 2025, the number of employees in the elderly care service industry reached 1.395 million, including 685,000 staff in elderly care institutions, with 47.4% of nursing staff holding relevant certifications. Approximately 146 million people aged 65 and above received free health management services through basic public health services at primary-level medical institutions in 2025.

By the end of 2025, over 90% of secondary-level and above public general hospitals had established geriatric departments, and there were 8,289 medical and elderly care integration institutions. The year 2025 marked a period where policy dividends from the silver economy began translating into consumption vitality. Consumption subsidies for elderly care services were issued to moderately to severely disabled seniors, and home-based aging-friendly renovations were included in the subsidy scope for home decoration and kitchen-bathroom upgrades, driving sales of 7.21 million aging-friendly products. Silver tourism trains operated 2,485 trips, with over 80 million person-trips involving travel and elderly care. A 500 billion yuan re-lending facility for service consumption and elderly care was established, and the pilot scope and support intensity for inclusive elderly care special re-lending were expanded.

Efforts to address prominent issues in the elderly care service sector were intensified. In 2025, inspections covered 354,000 elderly care institutions and facilities, leading to the rectification of 290,000 various problems and hazards. Additionally, 1,864 institutions resolved long-standing fire safety review issues, pilot county-level elderly care institution fire safety management centers were established in 156 regions, and 32,000 institutions implemented an internal whistleblower system.