UNITED NATIONS ISSUES WALL CHART ON POPULATION AGEING

29 June 1999

Press Release
PI/1154
POP/734

UNITED NATIONS ISSUES WALL CHART ON POPULATION AGEING

19990629 NEW YORK, 29 June (DESA) -- The Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs issued the first United Nations Wall Chart on Population Ageing, at the United Nations Headquarters. The Wall chart, titled Population Ageing 1999, provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive information available on population ageing at the global, regional, sub- regional and national levels.

One of every 10 persons is now aged 60 years or older. By 2050, the United Nations projects that 1 person of every 5 will be aged 60 years or older. By 2150, it will be 1 of every 3. The number of persons in this age group is now nearly 600 million. It is projected to grow to almost 2 billion by 2050, when the population of older persons will outnumber the population of children (0-14 years).

The older population is itself ageing. Currently, the oldest old (80 years or older) make up 11 per cent of the population aged 60 years or older. The oldest old are the fastest growing segment of the older population. By 2050, 19 per cent of the older population will be aged 80 years or older. The number of centenarians (aged 100 years or older) is projected to increase 15-fold from approximately 145,000 in 1999 to 2.2 million people by 2050.

The world has experienced dramatic improvements in longevity. Life expectancy at birth has climbed about 19 years since 1950, to its current level of 65 years. Of those surviving to age 60, men can expect to live another 17 years and women an additional 20 years. Large differences in mortality levels exist between countries. In the least developed countries, men reaching age 60 can expect only 14 more years of life and women 16 years. In the more developed regions, life expectancy at age 60 is 18 more years for men and 22 years for women.

The majority of older persons (55 per cent) are women. Among the oldest old, 65 per cent are women. The percentage of women in older age groups is higher in the more developed regions than in the less developed regions. While 79 per cent of older men are currently married, the corresponding figure for older women is 43 per cent.

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The impact of demographic ageing is visible in the potential support ratio, which is the number of persons aged 15 - 64 years per older person aged 65 years or older. The potential support ratio, which indicates the dependency burden on potential workers, is falling in developed and less developed regions. Between 1999 and 2050, the potential support ratio will decline from 5 to 2 working age persons per older person in more developed regions and by an even larger fraction in less developed regions, from 12 to 4, thus affecting social security schemes, particularly traditional pay- as-you-go systems where current workers pay for the benefits of current retirees.

Countries with high per-capita incomes tend to have lower participation rates of older workers. Only 23 per cent of men aged 60 years or older were still economically active in more developed regions, as compared with 52 per cent of men in less developed regions. In more developed regions, 10 per cent of older women are economically active, compared with 20 per cent in less developed regions.

The Wall Chart includes the number and percentage of older persons, life expectancy at age 60, the percentage of the older population currently married, the potential support ratio, the statutory retirement age and the percentage of older population in the labour force. It was produced by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs as part of its ongoing work on the demographic, economic and social aspects of population ageing and as a contribution to the International Year of Older Persons 1999.

The data presented in the Wall chart are also available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.undp.org/popin.

For further information, please contact Joseph Chamie, Director of the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (963-3179), or Shala Mokgethi at the Department of Public Information (963-8104).

Population Ageing 1999 (Sales No. E.99.XIII.11) may be obtained for $5.95 per copy from the Sales Section, United Nations, New York or Geneva; through booksellers worldwide; or by writing to the Director, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York, N.Y. 10017, United States.

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