As China’s Communist Party grows more slowly, its members are getting older

The Communist Party’s membership grew at a slower pace and its average age continued to climb last year, according to official data on the world’s second-biggest political party.

In line with tradition, the data was released on the day before July 1, the date of the party’s founding in 1921.

The party had 101 million members at the end of 2025, an increase of 1 per cent from the previous year, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Central Committee’s Organisation Department, the party’s top personnel office.

That was the slowest growth rate in at least five years. Annual growth has declined every year since 2021, when membership expanded by 3.7 per cent.

According to the report, nearly 30 per cent of members were aged 61 or older – the highest share in at least five years, up from just under 29 per cent in 2024.

The pace of ageing has also picked up. After a brief dip in 2022, the proportion of members over 60 has risen steadily, climbing by 1.43 percentage points between 2023 and 2025 alone.