Government releases report on aging population

The average life expectancy of residents in Shanghai reached 83.37 years in 2017, according to statistics released by authorities recently.

Figures by the city's civil affairs bureau, office of senior citizens services and statistics bureau show that life expectancy has continued to climb in Shanghai. The life expectancy of men and women was found to be 80.98 years and 85.85 years respectively.

The number of registered individuals aged 60 and above in Shanghai reached 4.84 million in 2017, an increase of 5.6 percent from the previous year, accounting for 33.2 percent of the 14.56 million registered citizens in Shanghai.

The city's growing life expectancy has spurred the construction of more elderly care facilities. According to official statistics, there are presently 703 nursing facilities housing 140,400 beds for the elderly in Shanghai, a 5.7 percent rise from last year. In addition, there are 100 elderly service centers in the community, including 68 new ones that were established in 2017.

There are currently 39 geriatric medical institutions, including hospitals and nursing homes, providing about 11,700 beds for the elderly, a 29.6 percent increase from last year. More than 290 educational institutions, which have a membership of 366,900 senior residents, are operating in the city.

Statistics show that the city has around 15,200 senior art teams, 16,100 sports teams, 467 elderly sports association, and 10,146 elderly volunteer teams that hold regular activities. There were also 750 legal aid cases involving the elderly in 2017, a decline of 13.5 percent from the previous year.

More nursing services and elderly care facilities will be added this year to cater to the growing need among the local population, said Zhu Qinhao, director of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.

heqi@chinadaily.com.cn