By the end of 2025, China's population aged 60 and above reached 323 million, or 23.0% of the total, with 223.65 million aged 65 and above (15.9%). Disabled and semi-disabled elderly exceeded 45 million, while only 500,000 hold professional caregiver certifications, creating a shortfall of 5.5 million. The home services market reached 1.28 trillion RMB, employing over 30 million workers.
China has published the '15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Consumption', the first national five-year plan focused on consumption in nearly 50 years. It targets total retail sales of consumer goods to reach about 60 trillion RMB by 2030, implying an average annual growth of 3.7% from 2025's 50.1 trillion RMB. The plan prioritizes service consumption, including elderly care, childcare, health, education, culture, and tourism. It also addresses auto and housing consumption but does not directly extend the consumer goods trade-in subsidy program.
State Taxation Administration head Hu Jinglin announced on July 28 that welfare tax incentives in the first half covering pensions, medical care, and education drove a year-on-year increase of 11.8% in tax reductions. A total of 126 million people benefited from special deductions for personal income tax, up 5.9% from a year earlier, while the tax reduction amount exceeded RMB 320 billion, representing an 8.2% year-on-year increase.
China's population aged 60 and above reached 320 million by end-2025, with over 60% of healthy retirees aged 60-69 traveling more than three times annually. Hainan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Guizhou and Jilin have rolled out measures to develop health and tourism living industries. The 2026 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference revealed a severe supply-demand mismatch in migratory living, warning against blind investment in large-scale health real estate projects leading to low occupancy and unfinished developments.