The elderly population aged 65 and above in the Macau SAR has increased by 107.2 per cent in the ten years between 2011-2021 to some 82,812, the 2021 Population Census carried out by the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) reveals.
Overall residents aged 65 and above represented 12.1 per cent of the total population, up by 4.9 percentage points from a decade ago, with the ageing ratio surging by 23.0 percentage points to 83.7 per cent.
In 2019 a report by the Chinese University of Hong Kong on the development and human resources needs of the Macau health sector indicated that local health authorities will need to prepare for an expected increase in the demand for medical services due to the city’s ageing population.
The total population of Macau amounted to 682,070 as of August 2021, an increase of 23.5 per cent from 552,503 in 2011, with the average annual population growth rate over the past decade some 2.1 per cent, a slowdown from the 2.4 per cent growth between 2001-2011.
The local population density also reached 20,620 persons per km2 in 2021, slightly higher than the 18,454 persons per km2 rate in 2011, with Areia Preta & Iao Hon”(153,104 persons per km2), Fai Chi Kei (144,424 persons per km2) and Sankiu (141,621 persons per km2) remaining the most densely populated districts.
However, the census also showed that the education level of the total population has improved over the past decade.
In 2021, about a third of the local population aged 15 and above attained tertiary education, some175,956 or nearly double when compared 2011.
Meanwhile, 29.3 per cent completed senior secondary education/diploma programme and 40.5% completed junior secondary education or other education level.
Analysed by gender, 30.4 per cent of the male population had attained tertiary education, slightly higher than the corresponding proportion for females, 30 per cent.
