China's average age is around 40, with the median age reaching approximately 40.1 years in 2025, reflecting a rapidly aging population due to declining birth rates, with significant increases seen from 34.1 in 2010 to nearly 40 by 2024/2025. This trend shows a quicker demographic shift than many other countries, with projections suggesting further aging.
China's median age is 40.1 against a global value of 30.5 years.
Monaco is the country with the highest median age in the world. The population has a median age of around 57 years, which is around six years more than in Japan and Saint Pierre and Miquelon – the other countries that make up the top three.
China life expectancy for 2022 was 78.20, a 0.11% increase from 2021.
The leading causes of death in China are Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD), particularly stroke and ischemic heart disease, followed by cancers (like lung and liver cancer) and respiratory diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). CVDs consistently rank first, accounting for nearly half of all deaths, highlighting a significant health burden from chronic conditions, alongside rising cancer and respiratory issues.
For the first time, Chinese people can expect to be healthy longer than Americans, according to the most recent data from the World Health Organization, even though Americans are still expected to live about two years longer than Chinese citizens.
Some researchers have attributed this to overall weaknesses in China's health system (World Bank, 2005; Tang et al., 2008). Others have blamed it on the rising air pollution that has been a byproduct of economic development (Ebenstein et al., 2015).
ASIAN AMERICANS -- Highest Life Expectancy In The World.
The Chinese emperor famous for having around 10,000 women in his harem was Emperor Wu of Jin (Sima Yan), who ruled from 266 to 290 AD and famously used a goat-drawn cart to choose his nightly companion from his vast number of concubines. While other emperors had large harems, Emperor Wu of Jin is specifically associated with this huge number.
For centuries, for reasons both economic and historic, the traditional Chinese diet has been primarily vegetarian -- featuring lots of vegetables, rice, and soybeans -- and containing only shavings of meat for flavoring, says Lan Tan, owner of Lan Tan's Chinese Cooking School in Durham, N.C. Many Chinese simply can't ...
Key statistics
Life expectancy at birth was 81.1 years for males and 85.1 years for females in 2022–2024, reflecting no change for either males or females from the previous year (2021–2023).
In this paper, the average age at first marriage by gender in 31 provinces from 1996 to 2020 was selected, with a sample size of 775. The average age at first marriage for the overall Chinese sample increased from 24.15 to 28.67 years old, a delay of nearly five years.
Monaco is the Oldest
Monaco leads this ranking with 36% of its population being over the age of 65 (translating to a median age of 57!).
Top 10 Countries with the Highest Life Expectancy
About 90% (actually closer to 94%) of China's population lives in the eastern half of the country, east of the Heihe–Tengchong Line, in fertile plains and coastal regions with major cities, while the vast, mountainous, desert-filled western half holds only about 6% of the people due to harsh conditions unsuitable for large-scale farming and settlement.
China: Polygamy is illegal under the Civil code passed in 2020, which replaced a similar 1950 and 1980 prohibition. Hong Kong: Polygamy ended with the passing of the Marriage Act of 1971 when the country was a crown colony under the former flag .
The Four Beauties or Four Great Beauties are four Chinese women who are renowned for their beauty and their impact on Chinese history through the influence they exercised over powerful men. The four are usually identified as Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diaochan, and Yang Yuhuan.
Emperor Ai is known for being one of the most homosexual emperors of the Han dynasty. His most notable relationship was with Dong Xian, which historians have characterised as one between homosexual lovers and referred to their relationship as "the passion of the cut sleeve".
Whites are usually taken as the standard against which other groups are compared, but they are not necessarily in the best health. Hispanics appear to be healthier than whites on a number of measures, though not all. Asians are generally in better health than any other group (Hummer et al., 2004).
Findings indicated that non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics have accelerated aging, and non-Hispanic Whites have decelerated aging. Racial/ethnic differences were strongly tied to educational attainment. We also observed a significant difference by birthplace for Hispanics.
Nearly 90% of the Asian-white life expectancy gap is attributable to the fact that Asians tend to outlive whites regardless of the cause of death. The causes that contribute the most to the gap are heart disease (24%) and cancers (18%).
China's "3-hour rule" for minors restricts children under 18 to playing online video games for only three hours per week, specifically from 8 PM to 9 PM on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, to combat gaming addiction and improve health. Implemented by the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) in 2021, the rule mandates gaming companies use real-name verification and facial recognition to enforce limits, though some children bypass it using adult accounts.
The leading causes of death in China are Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD), particularly stroke and ischemic heart disease, followed by cancers (like lung and liver cancer) and respiratory diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). CVDs consistently rank first, accounting for nearly half of all deaths, highlighting a significant health burden from chronic conditions, alongside rising cancer and respiratory issues.
The “4-2-1 problem” refers to the burden that many children face having to care for two parents and up to four grandparents. The Chinese government has made it illegal for adult children to shun this responsibility.