The population aged 65 and over surpassed the 0 to 5 age group in 2023 and is expected to reach 19.6% of the total in 2060
The population aged 65 and over will represent a larger portion of the world population than children aged up to 5 years in 2023. The data are from the report An Aging World: 2025released by the United States Census Bureau. The share of the global population almost doubled, from 10.5% to 19.6%. Read the full text in English (PDF – 11 MB).
The change occurs during the fall in the fertility rate. In 2023, more than 71% of the world’s population lived in societies with a fertility rate at or below the replacement level, which is 2.1 children per woman. In 2013, the percentage was 45%.
As for the world’s 2 most populous countries, China recorded 1.06 children per woman in 2023. India was below 2.1 children in 2022, according to the report.
CHANGE BY REGION
Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean are the regions that are expected to age the fastest. In Asia, the share of the population aged 65 or over is expected to rise from 10.2% in 2025 to 23.4% in 2060. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the increase will be in the same proportion: from 10.2% to 23.4%.
Europe will continue to be the oldest region, rising from 21% to 30.8%.
Among countries and areas with at least 1 million inhabitants in 2025, Japan is currently the oldest, with 29.7% of the population aged 65 or over. Next come Germany (24.1%), Greece and Italy (both with 24%) and Finland (23.8%).
In 2060, leadership should change to South Korea, when 41% of the country’s population will be elderly. Taiwan (39.3%), Japan (38.8%) and Hong Kong (38.7%) come next.
The report projects that 132 countries or areas will have at least 21% of the population aged 65 or over in 2060. In 2025, there were 33.
Source: https://www.poder360.com.br/poder-internacional/numero-de-idosos-supera-o-de-criancas-no-mundo/
