Population Aged 65+
Population Aged 65+ by country
Commentary
Notable countries
Monaco has the highest share of people aged 65+ at 36.17%, well ahead of Japan at 29.78%, while most of the rest of the top 10 is dominated by European countries such as Italy, Portugal, and Greece. At the other end, Qatar (1.68%) and the United Arab Emirates (1.77%) have the smallest older populations, alongside several African countries including Zambia, Chad, and the Central African Republic. A notable surprise is that Japan is the only Asian country in the top 10, while wealthy Gulf states appear among the very lowest.
Regional trends
Europe stands out clearly as the oldest region, with an average of 20.24%, roughly double North America’s 10.58% and well above the global mean of 10.05%. South America (9.792%) sits close to the world average, while Asia (7.971%) and Oceania (7.222%) are lower. Africa is by far the youngest region, averaging just 3.972%, which matches the strong presence of African countries in the bottom 10.
Data source
The data come from the World Bank 2024 and measure the share of each country’s population aged 65 and over, in percent. Coverage includes 196 countries. Values are country-level shares, so they show population age structure rather than the absolute number of older people.
Interpretation
Higher values mean a larger proportion of older residents, which in this dataset is treated as better. Countries with high shares typically have older population structures, while low shares indicate much younger populations. Overall, the data show a sharp divide between older societies concentrated in Europe and Japan and much younger populations in Africa and parts of Asia, but a higher share of older people does not by itself describe overall population size or broader living conditions.