China Expected to Have 300 Million Seniors by 2025

China's Ministry of Civil Affairs predicts that there may be as many as 300 million seniors living in the country by 2025, reports That's Online . A report recently released by the ministry said that 12.57 percent of China's population were aged 65 or above as of Dec. 31, 2019. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the dependency ratio of the senior population has climbed to 17.8 percent over the last three decades. That figure signals that each senior resident needs to be supported by six people. Several consequences of an aging population are feared. For one, China's massive pension system will take a hit as the number of people drawing from the account will surpass those paying into the system. In addition, labor costs will rise with a shrinking total supply of workers. Finally, the increase in the aging population will cause a change in consumption structure, warns a population report by Tsinghua University's Evergrande Research Institute.