Average age of China's workforce nearing 40, report says

The average age of China's workforce is approaching 40, said a report from the China Center for Human Capital and Labor Market Research at the Central University of Finance and Economics published on Sunday. 

The report, China Human Capital Report 2025, provides an in-depth analysis of this trend, underscoring the challenges posed by an aging population.

In 2023, the average age of rural workers reached 39.66 years. A closer look reveals that male rural workers averaged 41.6 years, while their female counterparts averaged 39.06 years. In urban areas, the average age for male workers was 40.26 years, and for female workers, it was 38.07 years.

This marks a notable increase over the past few decades. From 1985 to 2023, the average age of China's workforce rose from 32.25 to 39.66 years. Urban workers saw their average age climb from 33.03 to 39.25 years, while rural workers experienced an increase from 31.99 to 40.54 years.

Regionally, the areas with the oldest workforce age structure include the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and the provinces of Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, and Sichuan. In contrast, the regions with the youngest workforce, ranked from oldest to youngest, are Hainan province, the Xizang autonomous region, Guangdong and Guizhou provinces, and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.