Business Standard - China's number of working people has fallen by more than 41 mn in past three years, reflecting both the coronavirus pandemic's toll on the economy and it decline in the working age population. Some 733.5 million Chinese people were employed in 2022, according to the country's statistics bureau. That's down from 774.7 million in 2019. Read more
The drop reflects factors such as higher youth unemployment due to the pandemic as well as a shrinking number of people in the "classic age group of the working-age population".
The number of people in China aged between 16 and 59 has been gradually declining since 2012. Over the last three years, the number in that group dropped 38 million to 857.6 million — a much more rapid fall than in previous years.
China’s retirement age has remained unchanged for more than four decades at 60 for men and 55 for female white-collar workers, even as life-expectancy has risen. China experienced a baby-boom during the 1960s, meaning a large cohort of workers will fall out of the 16-59 age group over the course of this decade.
The country's ruling Communist Party has listed retirement age reform among its key economic tasks for the year. More detail on reform plans may be provided this month, when the annual government work report is presented at the National People's Congress - an annual meeting of China's rubber-stamp parliament.
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