AUG. 31, 2026 — The share of the world population age 65 and older is projected to nearly double from 10.5% to 19.6% between 2025 and 2060, according to a new report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

An Aging World: 2025 finds that the global population is aging faster than ever before. Between 2020 and 2025, the proportion of the population age 65 and older exceeded the population age 5 and younger for the first time in recorded history.

In 2025, the United States ranked the 48th oldest country out of 227, with 18.9% of its population age 65 or older. By 2060, older adults are projected to make up 23.4% of the U.S. population. Yet the United States will fall to 110th place globally because other countries are aging much more rapidly.

Japan was the oldest country in the world in 2025, with 29.7% of its population age 65 or older. But by 2060, South Korea is projected to become the oldest country, with 41% of its population age 65 or older.

Europe is currently the oldest region in the world, with the percentage of its population age 65 or over increasing from 21% to 30.8% between 2025 and 2060. However, in sheer numbers, the youngest region, Africa, is projected to have more older people than Europe. By 2060, Africa is projected to have 249 million people age 65 and over compared to 214 million in Europe.

Declining fertility and worldwide improvements in health services, educational status and economic development have contributed to a growing older population across regions. The report highlights how this growth may impact healthcare systems, employment, and overall financial, physical, and mental well-being.

Highlights include:

• Life expectancy is projected to increase faster than healthy life expectancy. This means a smaller share of the extra years lived is expected to be lived in good health. In the United States, for example, the proportion of years lived in full health after age 60 decreased by more than 2 percentage points between 2000 and 2019, and slightly more for men than for women.
• An estimated 73% of the U.S. population age 65 or older suffered from two or more chronic conditions between 2016 and 2019.
• Globally, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are among the top five leading causes of death in those age 60 and over as of 2021.
• Over the next decade, the average increase in government health spending (2.6% of GDP) is projected to be twice the average growth in government revenues (1.3% of GDP) across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, creating an imbalance.
• The COVID-19 pandemic amplified the problems faced by the older population as many lost jobs, easy access to health care, caregiver support, lacked digital connectivity for communication, and became isolated.
• Unpaid caregiving by family members and friends remains the main source of long-term care for older people worldwide. In many OECD countries, 3 out of 5 caregivers age 50 and older are women.
• The labor force participation rate for people age 65 and older in high-income countries increased between 2012 and 2022, but many low- and middle-income countries experienced a decrease over that period.
• In the United Kingdom, between 2021 and 2023, 56.2% of adults age 65 and over volunteered their time which is much higher than most countries in the world.
• Public pensions may cover more than 90% of the average wages in some countries (e.g., Brazil, Turkey, the Netherlands and Argentina), but only 50% of the average wage in others (e.g., the United States, Canada, India, New Zealand, Japan and South Africa).
• South Korea’s exceptionally high old-age poverty rate (above 40% in 2015 and 2020) is in sharp contrast to Norway, the Netherlands and Hungary, where the old-age poverty rate remained below 10% during the same period.

The report contains statistics from the Census Bureau’s International Database and other data sources, such as the international family of Health and Retirement surveys, the Gateway to Global Aging, The World Bank, International Labour Organization, and the OECD. This is the sixth edition of the Census Bureau’s An Aging World series, which was first published in 1987. All six editions were commissioned and supported by the National Institute on Aging’s Division of Behavioral and Social Research.

No news release associated with this report. Tip sheet only.

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