BEIJING, Dec. 14 -- The number of people covered by old-age insurance in China had exceeded 1.05 billion by the end of 2022, an increase of 24.36 million from the previous year, according to a report on the development of elderly care programs in the country.

The report, jointly released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Office of the China National Committee on Ageing, gives a summary of China's elderly population and the development of various programs that ensure their livelihood and access to elderly care and healthcare services.

China had 280.04 million elderly people aged 60 and above by the end of 2022, accounting for 19.8 percent of the total population. The number of those aged 65 and above had reached 209.78 million.

Among them, 41.43 million were covered by an elderly subsidy scheme, the report says.

By the end of last year, the country had 387,000 elderly care institutions and facilities, providing over 8.29 million beds.

A total of 6,986 institutions capable of providing both medical and elderly care services were established across the country, up by 7.6 percent from the previous year, according to the report.