There are now an estimated 83 million disabled people in China, an increase of 31 million on the 1987 figure, according to a national survey publicized on Friday.

The dramatic increase reflects the big increase in China's aging population.

"The proportion of the population aged 60 years and over grew to 11 percent in 2005 from 8.5 percent in 1987. Disabled people now account for 6.34 percent of China's 1.3 billion population," said a communique from the organizers of the second China National Sample Survey on Disability.

In 1987, seniors accounted for less than 5 percent of the population.

Disabled people are often defined as those for whom a physical or mental impairment creates a substantial disadvantage when they seek employment or access to the wider benefits of citizenship.

Of the total number of disabled, 44.16 million are aged over 60, an increase of 23.65 million on the first survey in 1987. Seniors account for three quarters of the increase in the numbers of the nation's disabled, according to the Disability survey.

"The government will take measures to enhance public awareness and understanding of disabled elderly people, help elderly disabled people recover and regain their self-esteem, and enact specific statutes to safeguard their rights," said Zhang Weimin, deputy director of the National Statistics Bureau at a press conference in Beijing Friday.

According to the communique notes, the growth of the Chinese aging population led to an explosion in the numbers of disabled.

"According to the 1987 survey, the proportion of disabled people in the national population was 4.9 percent. If this percentage figure had remained unchanged, the disabled population in 2006 would have been limited to 64 million, a lot less than the 83 million figure, but nevertheless an increase of 12 million over 52 million in 1987," the notes said.

"Due to cerebrovascular diseases, arthropathy, dementia and other senile diseases, disability is higher among elderly people," the communique said.

Deng Pufang, chairman of China Disabled Persons, said industrial injuries, traffic accidents, sports injuries and environmental pollution were also to blame for the dramatic increase in the number of physically disabled people.

Deng, also Chairman of the Leading Group of the Second China National Sample Survey on Disability, pointed out there is a correlation between the disabled population and socio-economic development, although the specific ratio has yet be be found.

Statistics on disability are difficult to compare internationally because different countries have different definitions.

In Britain, the proportion of "disabled" people is said to have risen from 7.1 percent in 1987 to 15 percent in 1994 and to 18 percent in 2002. The figure in the United States rose from 12 percent in 1991 to 18 percent in 2001.

But in some African countries, "disabled" people only make up 1 percent of the national population, Deng said.

As economies develop and industrialize, people are more likely to run the risk of getting injured in factories, on construction sites or doing mechanical work, he explained.

In an agricultural society, people are engaged in safer, simpler farming work, he said.

The growth of the aging population and the nation's headlong industrialization are not the whole story behind the explosion in the disabled figures. Disability classifications have been revised and expanded, with disability criteria brought into line with international standards and other social and environmental factors taken into account, the communique said.

The survey was conducted in all 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland by 16 government organizations including the National Statistics Bureau, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Health and the China Disabled Persons' Federation from April 1 to May 31, 2006.

The 738 survey teams consisted of more than 20,000 enumerators, 6,000 doctors, 730 statisticians and 50,000 survey assistants. They investigated 2,526,145 persons in 771,797 households.

(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2006)