Monaco, not Japan, has the highest share of elderly residents of any place on Earth: 36 percent of its roughly 39,000 people are aged 65 or older, edging out Japan’s 30 percent, according to United Nations Population Division data. But scale matters as much as share. Japan’s aging population problem is a national one affecting more than 36 million people, while Monaco’s is a city-state curiosity shaped heavily by its role as a haven for wealthy retirees. Between these two extremes sits the real story: the world as a whole is aging faster than at any point in recorded history, and the number of people 65 and older has climbed from 703 million in 2019 to roughly 857 million today, on its way to 1.58 billion by 2050.
How Many Older People Are There in the World?
The most commonly used threshold for “older” in global demographic statistics is age 65, though the UN and other bodies also track age 60 and above in some contexts, particularly for regions or historical periods where 65 was less commonly used as a marker of old age.
Using the 65-plus threshold, the global older population stood at approximately 857 million as of the most recent UN Population Division estimate, equal to roughly 10 percent of the world’s total population.
Global Population Aged 65 and Older, Selected Years
| Year | Population Aged 65+ | Share of World Population |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 703 million | approximately 9% |
| Current (mid-2020s) | approximately 857 million | approximately 10% |
| 2050 (projected) | approximately 1.58 billion | approximately 16% |
Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, as reported in UN DESA’s “Our World Is Growing Older” release and subsequent Statista compilations.
How Fast Is the World Aging?
The pace of this shift is what UN DESA itself has flagged as historically unprecedented, describing population aging as a “defining global trend of our time” in its World Social Report.
The share of people aged 65 and older worldwide is on pace to rise from roughly 10 percent today to 16 percent by 2050, meaning roughly 1 in 6 people globally will be 65 or older by mid-century, up from just 1 in 11 as recently as 2019. The number of people aged 80 or older is projected to triple over the same 30-year window, a rate of growth even faster than the 65-plus population overall, reflecting the fact that the oldest-old segment of the population is the fastest-growing age band on the planet.
Where Are Older People Most Concentrated?
Geographic concentration of the world’s older population reflects both raw population size and the underlying pace of each region’s demographic transition.
Asia currently leads the world in the sheer number of people aged 65 and older, with approximately 341 million, more than any other region, a reflection of Asia’s enormous overall population combined with a rapidly aging structure in several of its largest economies.
Europe, meanwhile, remains the oldest region by share rather than raw count, and UN Census Bureau analysis projects it will remain the oldest region through 2050 even as Asia and Latin America continue closing the gap through accelerated aging of their own.
Countries With the Highest Share of Population Aged 65 and Older, 2024
| Rank | Country | Share Aged 65+ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monaco | 36% |
| 2 | Japan | 30% |
| 3 | Italy | approximately 25% |
| 4 | Portugal | high 20s (exact rank varies by year) |
| 5 | Greece | high 20s |
| 6 | Finland | mid-20s |
| 7 | Germany | mid-20s |
| 8 | Puerto Rico | 25.3% |
Source: World Bank data via Statista, “Countries with the Highest Share of People Aged 65 Years or More Worldwide in 2024,” and UN Population Division.
Why Is the World Aging?
Two demographic forces, operating together, drive population aging everywhere it occurs, though their relative weight differs by country. Declining fertility reduces the size of each new birth cohort entering the population, shrinking the base of the population pyramid relative to older age groups above it.
Rising life expectancy extends the time people spend in the older segment of the population once they reach it, with UN DESA specifically noting that global life expectancy beyond age 65 is projected to increase by 19 years as part of this same “longevity revolution.” Japan’s case illustrates both mechanisms working in tandem: its fertility rate has remained below replacement level for decades, driven in part by economic uncertainty and a falling marriage rate, while its life expectancy remains among the highest in the world, a combination that has pushed its 65-plus share to 30 percent, the highest of any large country.
The Shift From Child-Heavy to Older Populations
This structural reversal, from populations dominated by children to populations increasingly weighted toward older age groups, is already complete in the world’s most aged countries and is spreading globally. UN DESA’s World Social Report frames this transition as a “major success story,” a direct consequence of improved healthcare, nutrition, and living standards that have allowed more people to survive into old age than at any previous point in human history, even as it simultaneously creates the practical planning challenges detailed below.
The Oldest Countries and Regions
Japan has held the position of the world’s oldest large country for decades and is projected to retain that ranking through at least 2050, according to U.S. Census Bureau analysis, though several other Asian economies are catching up fast. By 2050, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan are all projected to have roughly 40 percent of their populations aged 65 or older, a level of concentration in older age groups that would be unprecedented among large national populations, and would represent a sharp escalation from today’s oldest countries, where the 65-plus share generally sits in the low-to-mid 20s.
Projected Share Aged 65 and Older by 2050, Selected Countries
| Country | Approximate Share Aged 65+ in 2050 |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong | over 45% |
| Taiwan | approximately 40% |
| South Korea | approximately 40% |
| Japan | 37.5% |
| Puerto Rico | approximately 37% |
| Italy | 36.8% |
Source: Statista compilation of World Population Prospects 2024 and UN DESA projections.
Aging and the Workforce
A shrinking working-age population relative to a growing retired population is the most direct economic consequence of population aging, and it is compounding fastest in exactly the countries projected to age most, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan among them.
Policy responses documented across aging countries generally cluster around three approaches: raising the statutory retirement age, removing institutional barriers that discourage voluntary continued employment among older workers, and, in a smaller number of countries, actively recruiting immigrant labor to offset the shrinking domestic working-age base, though as covered in analyses of population decline, immigration alone has generally proven insufficient to fully reverse the underlying aging trend.
Aging and Healthcare and Long-Term Care
The tripling of the global 80-and-older population projected over the coming decades creates healthcare demand of a specific and predictable kind: this oldest-old segment of the population has disproportionately high rates of chronic disease management and long-term care needs compared to the 65-to-79 age band.
Somewhat counterintuitively, the World Health Organization projects that by 2050, low- and middle-income countries, not wealthy nations, will be home to 80 percent of the world’s older population, meaning the countries with historically the least developed healthcare and long-term care infrastructure will bear a disproportionate share of future global eldercare demand.
Aging and Social Protection
Pension systems designed decades ago around a much younger population structure, with many workers supporting relatively few retirees, face mounting strain as that ratio narrows in aging countries.
The United Nations General Assembly’s designation of 2021 to 2030 as the “Decade of Healthy Ageing” reflects institutional recognition of this pressure, framing the response explicitly around reducing health inequities and improving the lived experience of aging populations rather than treating population aging as a problem to be reversed, an approach UN DESA itself has emphasized given how far along the trend already is in the world’s most aged countries.
How Immigration Can Affect Aging
Immigration can partially offset an aging population’s shrinking workforce by adding working-age residents from younger-skewing origin countries, and several European countries with advanced aging, including Germany and Italy, have relied on net immigration to slow, though not reverse, their overall aging trajectory.
This effect has clear limits, however, since immigrants themselves age over time and, in many cases, adopt fertility patterns closer to their destination country’s norm within a generation, meaning immigration functions more as a temporary buffer against the pace of aging than a permanent structural solution.
What the Future Aging Population Looks Like
The trajectory ahead is one of accelerating concentration in the oldest age bands rather than a plateau. By 2050, 22 percent of the world’s population is projected to be above age 60, and countries like Hong Kong are expected to move from mid-pack rankings today to the single highest share of any major economy by mid-century, illustrating how quickly the ranking of the world’s “oldest” countries can shift once a population’s aging trajectory accelerates.
Conclusion
Population aging is advancing on two tracks simultaneously: a steady global climb from roughly 10 percent of the world’s population aged 65 and older today to a projected 16 percent by 2050, and a much sharper acceleration underway in a specific cluster of East Asian economies, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, expected to reach roughly 40 percent elderly by mid-century.
The World Health Organization’s projection that 80 percent of the world’s older population will live in low- and middle-income countries by 2050 reframes population aging as a global rather than purely wealthy-nation challenge, one the UN itself has chosen to describe as a success story of longer, healthier lives rather than a crisis to be reversed.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How many older people are there in the world?
Approximately 857 million people aged 65 and older live in the world today, roughly 10 percent of the global population, up from 703 million in 2019, according to UN Population Division estimates.
2. Which country has the highest share of elderly residents?
Monaco has the highest share of any country or territory, with 36 percent of its roughly 39,000 residents aged 65 or older, ahead of Japan at 30 percent, which remains the oldest large country in the world.
3. Why is the world aging so quickly?
Population aging results from the combination of declining fertility, which shrinks the base of new births entering the population, and rising life expectancy, which extends the time people spend in older age groups once they reach them.
4. How many people will be over 65 by 2050?
The global population aged 65 and older is projected to reach approximately 1.58 billion by 2050, roughly 16 percent of the world’s population, up from about 10 percent today.
5. Which countries will be the oldest by 2050?
Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan are all projected to have roughly 40 percent of their populations aged 65 or older by 2050, with Hong Kong specifically projected to exceed 45 percent, the highest of any major economy.
6. Will most older people live in rich or poor countries by 2050?
The World Health Organization projects that by 2050, low- and middle-income countries will be home to 80 percent of the world’s older population, shifting the geographic center of global eldercare demand away from wealthy nations.
7. How fast is the 80-and-older population growing?
The number of people aged 80 or older is projected to triple over the 30 years following 2019, making it the fastest-growing age segment of the global population.
8. Can immigration reverse population aging?
Immigration can slow the pace of aging by adding working-age residents, as seen in Germany and Italy, but it has not fully reversed aging trends anywhere, since immigrants themselves age over time and often adopt destination-country fertility patterns within a generation.
9. What is the “Decade of Healthy Ageing”?
It is a 2021-to-2030 initiative declared by the UN General Assembly aimed at reducing health inequities and improving quality of life for older people, their families, and their communities through coordinated global action.
10. Is population aging considered a negative trend?
UN DESA’s own World Social Report describes population aging as a “major success story,” reflecting improved healthcare and living standards that allow more people to live longer, while also acknowledging the genuine economic and social planning challenges it creates for pension systems, healthcare capacity, and workforce size.
Sources
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “Our World Is Growing Older,” Population Division news release
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, World Social Report 2023
- Statista, “Countries and Territories With the Highest Share of People Aged 65 and Older,” based on UN Population Division data
- Statista, “Top Countries With the Highest Aging Populations in 2025,” based on World Population Prospects 2024
- U.S. Census Bureau, “U.S. Population Aging Slower Than Other Countries,” An Aging World: 2015 report
- World Health Organization, projections on the geographic distribution of the global older population by 2050
