Preparing for larger numbers of older persons

Patterns of declining mortality and fertility over the past two decades have led to significant shifts in the age structure of the world’s population, so that persons aged 60 or over are now the world’s fastest growing age group. While the population ageing process is most advanced in countries of Europe and North America, where 1 of every 5 people is aged 60 or over according to figures for 2015, a rapid growth in the number of older persons is expected over the next 15 years across all major income groups and areas of the world (see figure XI), raising questions about the well-being of older persons with regard to their economic security in old age, their health, their level of informal and formal support networks and the protection of their rights. No reference was made to the needs of older persons in the United Nations Millennium Declaration (General Assembly resolution 55/2), which was signed in 2000 when persons aged 60 or over comprised 10 per cent of the world’s population. However, concerns about population ageing can be expected to grow over the next 15 years, given that by 2030, 16 per cent of people worldwide will be aged 60 or older.

Related Subject(s): Population and Demography