In the world's most populous country, life expectancy has been continuously rising over the last decades, benefitting greatly from China's economic ascendance. In 2021, average life expectancy at birth in China reached about 78.2 years.

Life expectancy at birth refers to the average number of years a group of people born in the same year would live, assuming constant mortality rates. San Marino and Monaco had the highest life expectancy at birth, while China had reached a life expectancy above global average. People who were born in San Marino or Monaco in 2022 had a life expectancy of approximately 87 years or 86 years on average respectively.

Whereas average life expectancy at birth has been growing steadily, birth rates in China have been experiencing a slowdown. In 2022, about 6.77 babies had been born per 1,000 women in China, the lowest point in the recent decade. As a result of low fertility rates and the extended life expectancy in China, the share of elderly people had been rising rapidly. The number of Chinese population aged 60 and older had more than doubled over the past three decades and is projected to reach its peak at 509.4 million in 2050. People aged 60 and older have been estimated to account for approximately one fourth of China's total population by 2030, indicating a sharp climb from just above twelve percent in 2010. In order to pinpoint this massive shift in the age pyramid of China, an important indicator for measuring the pressure of aging population on productive population may be consulted. The old-age dependency ratio in China was expected to reach 51.5 percent in 2050.