Old age: Responding to a rapidly ageing population

Abstract

The well-being of older persons (aged 60 or over) will feature prominently in the policy agendas of Governments around the world in the coming decades. The ageing of the world’s population is one of the most significant demographic trends in recent decades. Resulting from a combination of falling fertility rates and rising life expectancy, it is altering the demographic profile of virtually all countries. Globally, the number of older people is projected to double from 2015 to 2050, reaching nearly 2.1 billion in 2050. Europe and Northern America have the highest percentage of older persons at present, but countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia will witness the fastest growth of the older population in the coming decades. In Africa, the number of people aged 60 or over is expected to increase from