Elders make up one-third of Shanghai's population

Elderly people in Shanghai now make up 31.6 per cent of China's biggest metropolitan city, highlighting the country's fast-paced growth of ageing population which is expected to touch 255 million by 2020.
The city's registered population of people aged 60 and above was 4.58 million by the end of 2016, a year-on-year increase of five per cent, data released by the Shanghai Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau and Shanghai Statistics Bureau said.
China's biggest city has a total population of 24.5 million.
The statistics also revealed that the city's life expectancy remains above 83, and there were 796,600 residents aged 80 or above last year, up 16,100 from 2015.

In order to meet the various demands of its ageing population, Shanghai has established 702 nursing homes with 132,800 beds, 488 daytime elderly care centres and 633 community canteens for old people, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.
China's old age population above 60 yearswill reach 255 million by 2020 putting heavy stress on geriatric care services, China's planning body said recently.

A plan for elderly healthcare in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) jointly issued National Development and Reform Commission said the ageing population will grow at an average rate of 6.4 million a year.
By 2020, there will be 255 million elders, representing at least 17.8 per cent of the entire Chinese population which will result in decline in China's labour numbers besides increasing health expenditure for geriatric care.

To cope up with the looming demographiccrisis, China last year relaxed over three decades old one-child-policy and permitted couples to have a second child.