page_title: Population ageing
section_title: Ageing around the world
hierarchical_section_title: Population ageing / Ageing around the world
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a chart depicting the increasing age of the world's population by illustrating the percentage that will be over 65 between 1950-2050. The source is the UN World Population Prospect, 2008.
context_page_description: Population ageing is an increasing median age in a population due to declining fertility rates and rising life expectancy. Most countries have rising life expectancy and an ageing population. This is the case for every country in the world except the 18 countries designated as "demographic outliers" by the UN. The aged population is currently at its highest level in human history. The UN predicts the rate of population ageing in the twenty-first century will exceed that of the previous century. The number of people aged 60 years and over has tripled since 1950, reaching 600 million in 2000 and surpassing 700 million in 2006. It is projected that the combined senior and geriatric population will reach 2.1 billion by 2050. Countries vary significantly in terms of the degree and pace of ageing, and the UN expects populations that began ageing later will have less time to adapt to its implications.
context_section_description: The world's older population is growing dramatically.
  Asia and Europe are the two regions where a significant number of countries face population ageing. Within twenty years, many countries in these regions will face a situation where the largest population cohort will be those over 65 and average age approach 50 years old. In 2100, according to research led by the University of Washington, 2.4 billion people are going to be over the age of 65, compared with 1.7 billion under the age of 20. The Oxford Institute of Population Ageing is an institution looking at global population ageing. Its research reveals that many of the views of global ageing are based on myths and that there will be considerable opportunities for the world as its population matures. The Institute's Director, Professor Sarah Harper highlights in her book Ageing Societies the implications for work, families, health, education, and technology of the ageing of the world's population.
  Most of the developed countries now have sub-replacement fertility levels, and population growth now depends largely on immigration together with population momentum, which also arises from previous large generations now enjoying longer life expectancy.
  Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds—100,000 per day—die of age-related causes. In industrialised nations, the proportion is much higher, reaching 90%.
caption: Percentage of world population over 65
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