China's biggest headwind approaches as working age population reaches peak

Demographic change in China set to be biggest in world

Ashburton's Derry Pickford asks what the world's second largest economy can take from its neighbour Japan's experiences as it heads towards a demographic tipping point

According to the UN's Population Division, the global population of people aged over 60 will, in 35 years' time, be over two billion, from 900 million today. The number aged over 80 will be nearly 400 million, from about 125 million today.  Nowhere in the world is the change to demographic trends going to be more abrupt than in China. Tipping point  China's working age population will decline by 23% over the next 40 years, meaning it may already have reached its peak. Cheap young workers aged between 20 and 34 will fall by nearly 40% in China. Although this decline in working age...