Demographics

Demographics

  • The over 60’s demographic will be the fastest expanding demographic over the next 40 years. At present 10.1 per cent of the worlds population is over 60 by 2050 there will be over 9bn people in the world, 1/5 or 20.9per cent will be over 60. (UN World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision)
  • In the UK someone is turning 50 every 40 seconds (Growth Market is Getting Older) whilst in the US someone is turning 50 every 7 seconds (AgeLab)

  • The UK has just passed a demographic tipping point. In 2007 for the first time in the UK there were more people over state pension age than children; an ageing society is no longer coming tomorrow - it is here with us today." (Guardian July 2009)

  • In 1998, there were 135,000 centenarians in the world. By 2050, there will be 2.2 million centenarians, that is one of every 5,000 people. The largest centenarian populations in 2050 are projected to be in China with 472,000, the United States with 298,000, Japan with 272,000, and India with 111,000. By 2050, Japan will have the highest proportion of centenarians, 2.6 per thousand of the total population, or 2.2 per cent of the oldest-old. Its total number of centenarians will be 272,000: 40,000 males and 232,000 females. Finland, Italy, Norway, Singapore and Sweden will have slightly below two per one thousand people: Longevity: A Revolution

  • One in three of us is now aged over 50. For the first time in our history, there are more people over 65 in the UK than there are young people. (The New Old Age_The Lab)

  • [We are living in the] 21st century, in which one in four babies born today will live to 100. (The New Old Age_The Lab)

  • Between 1975 and 1995, actuaries were adding a month or six weeks to life expectancy calculations every year; now, they are adding more than three months. (The New Old Age_The Lab)

  • A boy born in 2006 is likely to be able to expect to live to 88 and a girl to almost 92. (The New Old Age_The Lab)

  • In 1948, just over 10 per cent of the UK population was 65 or older. By 2050, the proportion will be almost 25 per cent. (The New Old Age_The Lab)

  • The average Briton is 39 years old (up from 37 a decade ago) and, for the first time, there are more pensioners than there are children. (The New Old Age_The Lab)

  • Over the next 25 years, the number of children will increase by 11 per cent and the number of working age adults by 15 per cent, while the number of older people will rise by 32 per cent, with number aged 75 and over increasing by 76 per cent. By 2031 there will be 15 million older people in the UK, a 4 million increase on 2008. The oldest old, who tend to be the most frail – those aged 85 and over – will more than double. (The New Old Age_The Lab)