Aging population statistics use different age thresholds, so definitions matter. WHO commonly reports people aged 60 and older, while UN DESA and CDC frequently use 65 and older; other measures use 70+, 80+, 85+, or 55+.
Key Aging Population Statistics
The following figures summarize the broadest global, health, safety, and U.S. measures:
- In 2019, 1.0 billion people aged 60 and older lived worldwide.
- In 2020, people aged 60 and older outnumbered children younger than 5 worldwide.
- By 2030, 1.4 billion people worldwide are projected to be aged 60 and older.
- By 2030, one in six people globally is projected to be aged 60 and older.
- By 2050, 2.1 billion people worldwide are projected to be aged 60 and older.
- The global 60-and-older share is projected to rise from 12% in 2015 to 22% in 2050.
- In 2050, 80% of older people are projected to live in low- and middle-income countries.
- In 2021, 761 million people worldwide were aged 65 and older.
- By 2050, 1.6 billion people worldwide are projected to be aged 65 and older.
- In 2023, 160 million people worldwide were aged 80 and older.
- In 2050, 459 million people worldwide are projected to be aged 80 and older.
- Approximately 85% of older adults have at least one chronic health condition in the U.S. context cited by NIA.
- In 2020, 27.6% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older reported a fall in the previous year.
- In 2021, 38,742 U.S. adults aged 65 and older died from unintentional falls.
- In 2021, the U.S. age-adjusted fall death rate for adults aged 65 and older was 78.0 per 100,000.
- The 2020 ACS 5-year table reported 50,843,906 U.S. residents aged 65 and older.
Contents
- Global aging population statistics
- Aging population data by age group and region
- Aging population trends and projections
- Longevity and health condition statistics
- Falls, injuries, and care needs
- Aging population statistics in the United States
Global Aging Population Statistics: Scale and Distribution
WHO estimated that 1.0 billion people worldwide were aged 60 or older in 2019. In 2020, this group was larger than the global population of children younger than five, using WHO’s 60+ and under-5 comparison.
WHO projects 1.4 billion people aged 60 or older by 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050. The projected global share rises from 12% in 2015 to 22% in 2050, and the 2030 milestone is one in six people globally.
Source: WHO, “Ageing and health”. These are estimates and forecasts, and WHO’s 60+ threshold is not interchangeable with a 65+ measure.
The geography of aging is also changing. WHO projects that 80% of older people will live in low- and middle-income countries in 2050; its wording also says two-thirds of the world’s 60+ population will live in those countries.
Japan already has 30% of its population aged over 60, according to WHO’s fact sheet. The passage does not specify the year for that estimate, so it should not be treated as a dated annual observation.
Aging Population Data by Age Group and Region
UN DESA estimated the global 65+ population at 761 million in 2021, equal to one in ten people worldwide. It projects 1.6 billion people aged 65 and older in 2050, or one in six people globally.
| Age group or regional measure | Period | Reported figure |
|---|---|---|
| Global population aged 65+ | 2021 | 761 million |
| Global population aged 65+ | 2050 forecast | 1.6 billion |
| Global population aged 80+ | 2023 | 160 million |
| Global population aged 80+ | 2050 forecast | 459 million |
Source: UN DESA, “World Social Report 2023: Leaving No One Behind in an Ageing World” and UN DESA, “Older Persons in Collective Living Arrangements”. The 65+ and 80+ series use different thresholds from WHO’s 60+ series.
The 80+ population was 160 million worldwide in 2023 and is projected to reach 459 million in 2050. UN DESA projects that people aged 80 and older will represent almost 5% of the world’s population in 2050.
WHO’s 2019 regional distribution of older people was concentrated in several broad source-defined groupings:
- Eastern and south-eastern Asia contained 37% of the world’s older people.
- Europe and Northern America contained 26%.
- Central and South Asia contained 18%.
- Latin America and the Caribbean contained 8%.
- Sub-Saharan Africa contained 5%.
- North and West Africa contained 4%.
- Oceania contained 0.7%.
These regional shares come from WHO’s Decade proposal and should not be recombined without the underlying dataset.
Aging Population Trends, Projections, and Dependency
WHO reports that the number of people aged 60 and older is projected to increase by 34%, from 1.0 billion in 2019 to 1.4 billion in 2030. This is a reported change, not an independent calculation here.
UN DESA projects that the global 65+ population will more than double from 761 million in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2050. WHO separately projects that the number of people aged 80 and older will triple between 2020 and 2050, without supplying the exact starting value in the cited claim.
Older-age growth is substantial within the G20 as well. UN DESA projects the G20 population aged 80 and older to rise from 102 million in 2019 to 307 million in 2050, while G20 countries contained more than 70% of the world’s 65+ population in 2019.
| Measure | Starting point | Later point |
|---|---|---|
| World population aged 60+ | 1.0 billion, 2019 | 1.4 billion forecast, 2030 |
| World population aged 65+ | 761 million, 2021 | 1.6 billion forecast, 2050 |
| G20 population aged 80+ | 102 million, 2019 | 307 million forecast, 2050 |
Source: WHO, “Ageing and health” and UN DESA, “World Social Report 2023”. Projections depend on demographic assumptions and are not observed future counts.
The World Bank’s World Development Indicators interface, based on UN Population Division World Population Prospects, counted 854,604,026 people aged 65 and older worldwide in 2025. The same series counted 62,844,750 in the United States, 13,690,810 in the United Kingdom, and 101,245,577 in the European Union.
Source: World Bank, “Population ages 65 and above, total – World”. These are 2025 estimates in the displayed WDI series.
Aging Population Statistics on Longevity and Health Conditions
Population aging increases the number of people living into older age, but aging does not describe one uniform health experience. NIA’s U.S.-context material reports that approximately 85% of older adults have at least one chronic health condition and approximately 60% have at least two.
NIA also cites an estimate that 79% of people aged 70 and older have at least one of seven potentially disabling chronic conditions: arthritis, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, respiratory disease, stroke, or cancer.
| Population | Health measure | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Older adults, U.S. context | At least one chronic condition | Approximately 85% |
| Older adults, U.S. context | At least two chronic conditions | Approximately 60% |
| People aged 70+, U.S. context | At least one of seven potentially disabling conditions | 79% |
| U.S. men aged 65+ | Anemia | 11% |
| U.S. women aged 65+ | Anemia | 10.2% |
| Americans aged 85+ | Anemia | 20% |
Source: NIA, “Talking With Your Older Patients”. The displayed passage does not specify underlying survey years for these estimates, and the anemia figures are described as recent-study estimates.
The age thresholds and outcomes in this section are not interchangeable. Chronic-condition prevalence, potentially disabling conditions, and anemia measure different health dimensions and should not be combined into one overall rate.
Aging Population Statistics on Falls, Injuries, and Care Needs
CDC data show how fall outcomes vary by age and sex in the United States. In 2020, 14,058,840 adults aged 65 and older reported at least one fall in the previous year, representing 27.6% of that population.
| U.S. population | 2020 reporting a fall in previous year | 2021 fall death rate |
|---|---|---|
| Adults aged 65+ | 27.6%; 14,058,840 people | 78.0 per 100,000 |
| Women aged 65+ | 28.9% | 68.3 per 100,000 |
| Men aged 65+ | 26.1% | 91.4 per 100,000 |
| Ages 65–74 | 25.6% | 19.0 per 100,000 |
| Ages 75–84 | 28.6% | 74.9 per 100,000 |
| Ages 85+ | 32.9% | 338.0 per 100,000 |
Source: CDC, “Nonfatal and Fatal Falls Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, 2020–2021”. Fall percentages are age-adjusted, self-reported BRFSS survey estimates; death rates are age-adjusted NVSS vital-statistics measures.
In 2021, 38,742 U.S. adults aged 65 and older died from unintentional falls. The age-specific rate increased from 19.0 per 100,000 among adults aged 65–74 to 338.0 per 100,000 among adults aged 85 and older.
State variation was also reported. In 2020, older-adult fall reporting ranged from 19.9% in Illinois to 38.0% in Alaska; in 2021, fall death rates ranged from 30.7 per 100,000 in Alabama to 176.5 per 100,000 in Wisconsin.
State comparisons can reflect survey and population differences and do not by themselves explain causation. The survey and death-rate figures measure different outcomes.
Aging Population Statistics in the United States
The 2020 ACS 5-year S0103 table reported 50,843,906 people aged 65 and older in its displayed U.S. population table. It reported 32,089,740 women aged 65 and older and 18,754,166 men aged 65 and older; the men’s figure is derived from the displayed total and women’s value.
| 2020 ACS 5-year measure | People |
|---|---|
| U.S. population aged 65+ | 50,843,906 |
| Women aged 65+ | 32,089,740 |
| Men aged 65+ | 18,754,166, derived |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “The Older Population in the United States: 2020”. The Census distinguishes official 2020 Census counts from ACS estimates, so these S0103 values should be labeled estimates.
The Census 2020 older-population release includes detailed tables covering age and sex, marital status, educational attainment, nativity and citizenship, and household characteristics for people aged 55 and older. Those are measured domains in the release, not one single percentage or count.
Taken together, the U.S. figures show why definitions must remain visible: a 55+ Census table scope, a 65+ ACS population estimate, 70+ chronic-condition data, and 85+ fall and anemia measures answer different statistical questions.