World's population aging at unprecedented rate17 August 2009 The average age of the world’s population is increasing at an unprecedented rate. The number of people worldwide aged 65 and older is estimated at 506 million as of midyear 2008 and by 2040 it is likely to reach 1.3 billion at current trends. Thus, in just over 30 years, the proportion of older people will double from 7% to 14% of the total world population, according to a new report by the US National Institute on Aging (NIA), An Aging World: 2008 [1]. The report examines the demographic and socioeconomic trends accompanying this phenomenon. It was commissioned by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and produced by the US Census Bureau. “The world’s population of people over age 65 is growing rapidly, and with it will come a number of challenges and opportunities,” said NIA Director Richard J Hodes, MD “NIA and our partners at Census are committed to providing the best data possible so that we can better understand the course of population aging and its implications.” An Aging World: 2008 examines nine international population trends identified in 2007 by the NIA and the US Department of State (Why Population Aging Matters: A Global Perspective). An Aging World: 2008 contains detailed information on life expectancy, health, disability, gender balance, marital status, living arrangements, education and literacy, labour force participation and retirement, and pensions among older people around the world. “Aging is affecting every country in every part of the world,” said Richard Suzman, PhD, director of NIA’s Division of Behavioral and Social Research. “While there are important differences between developed and developing countries, global aging is changing the social and economic nature of the planet and presenting difficult challenges. The fact that, within 10 years, for the first time in human history there will be more people aged 65 and older than children under 5 in the world underlines the extent of this change.” Highlights of the report include:
Reference 1. Kinsella, Kevin and Wan He, An Aging World: 2008, US Census Bureau, International Population Reports, P95/09-1. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 2009. The report is available at www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p95-09-1.pdf (PDF, 11.5Mb). Bookmark this page |
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