Overview
- A U.S. Census Bureau report published Thursday confirmed that people aged 65 and older now outnumber children ages 0–5 and offered projections through 2060 showing the 65+ population rising from 852 million in 2025 to about 2 billion.
- The Census projects the world total will grow from about 8.13 billion to 10.23 billion by 2060, with older adults accounting for a large share of net population growth over that period.
- More than 71% of the global population lived in countries with fertility at or below the roughly 2.1 births per woman replacement level in 2023, up from about 45% in 2013, a shift that is accelerating population aging.
- Regional changes are stark: Asia's 65+ population is forecast to climb from 487 million to 1.24 billion, Africa's older population will more than quadruple from 60 million to 249 million, and Europe will remain the oldest region by share.
- Governments face growing pressure on pensions, health care and long-term care as fewer workers and family caregivers support more retirees, and analysts point to policy options like immigration, family supports, preventive health, later retirement and age-friendly jobs to adapt.