China’s capital is aging rapidly. The number of residents aged 20 to 29 living in Beijing has nearly halved over the past decade, dropping from 4.618 million in 2015 to 2.489 million in 2024 — a loss of 2.129 million young people. Their share of the city’s total population fell from 21.3 percent to 11.4 percent, now barely above the national average of 10.56 percent. Over the same period, residents aged 60 and above grew from 3.405 million to 5.14 million.
The trend is drawing concern. Scholar Wang Mingyuan wrote in a widely circulated social media post that Beijing’s young population is now far smaller than those of Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Chongqing. He warned that if the demographic trend continues, Beijing risks becoming a city without vitality by 2030. At Peking University, the share of graduates choosing to stay in Beijing dropped from 72 percent in 2013 to just 42 percent in 2024, with growing numbers heading to Shanghai and Guangdong instead.
High living costs, limited opportunities for small and mid-sized businesses, and a rigid household registration system are widely cited as the culprits. Resources in Beijing increasingly concentrate among a few large tech firms, squeezing out the kind of growing startups that create opportunities for young workers. Wang noted that families earning over 1 million yuan (~$137,500 USD) annually have lived in Beijing for over a decade and still cannot obtain permanent residency, forcing some couples into long-distance marriages or relocation to Shenzhen.
Wei, a 34-year-old from Shandong who moved to Beijing in 2016, told a reporter that young people typically leave after five years if their income remains modest. “This city doesn’t encourage you to stay,” he said, adding that post-pandemic economic fatigue has left many unwilling to keep competing.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), May 4, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202605040304.aspx