(29 September 2015) – On the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons, on 1st October, Eurostat publishes demographic indicators on elderly people living in the EU.
The European Union as a whole is confronted with an ageing population. In 2014, the proportion of persons aged 65 or over reached 18.5% in the EU and it is projected to further increase in the future to almost 30% by 2080.
Slovakia (now the Member State with the lowest proportion) is projected to become the Member State with the highest share of persons aged 80 or over (16.3%), followed by Portugal (15.8%), Germany (15.1%) and Poland (14.9%). At the opposite end of the scale, Ireland (with 7.4% of the population expected to be aged 80 or over by 2080), Lithuania (8.9%) and Latvia (9.5%) would have the lowest shares.
Across Member States in 2013, life expectancy for women at 65 ranged from less than 18 years in Bulgaria to more than 23 years in France and Spain. For men it varied from less than 14 years in Latvia to more than 19 years in France, Spain and Luxembourg.
In eight Member States persons aged 65 or above were more likely to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion than persons below 65, in particular in Bulgaria, Estonia, Slovenia and Croatia.
In the EU in 2013, persons aged 65 or over were more likely to be at risk of monetary poverty (13.8%) than severely materially deprived (6.9%). This was also the case in a large majority of the Member States, notably in Estonia, Belgium, Sweden and Finland.