Add The New York Post on Google Humanity is trading strollers for walkers and the tooth fairy for dentures — as senior citizens outnumber young kids for the first time in human history.
There are now more people age 65 and older than children 5 and under worldwide, according to a new report by the US Census.
By 2025, senior citizens became 10.5% of the world’s total population, passing the percentage of babies, toddlers and preschoolers at some point in the preceding five years, the report found.
That global tipping point came years earlier than demographers expected, as birth rates plunged worldwide and life expectancy has stretched.
People aged 65 and older outnumber children aged 5 and under worldwide for the first time in recorded history. WavebreakMediaMicro – stock.adobe.com The US is currently ranked as the 48th oldest country in the world, with 18.9% of its population aged 65 or older, a figure expected to climb to 23.4% by 206.
However, with other countries aging much faster, the US’s aging rank is predicted to fall to 110th by that time.
Almost three-quarters (71%) of the world’s population now live in countries with fertility rates at or below the roughly 2.1 births-per-woman replacement level, the study found.
Many of the world’s most populous nations all have below replacement-level births. Louis-Paul Photo – stock.adobe.com That is up from 43% in 2013, as demographic aging is no longer restricted to the richest countries.
China, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, and Vietnam, five of the world’s most populous nations, all have below replacement-level birth rates.
At the same time, the population of those 65 and over has grown massively thanks to higher life expectancies and hundreds of millions being lifted out of poverty.
The number of over-65s is projected to grow from 852 million in 2025 to 2 billion in 2060, representing an astonishing 55% of all net global population growth in the period, reported Axios.
The world’s total population is expected to rise from 8.13 billion to 10.23 billion by 2060, meaning one in five people on Earth will be over 65.
This unprecedented growth in senior citizens could bring unbearable strain to welfare states in many countries, as a smaller and smaller working population supports a growing proportion of retirees.
While this has been seen as primarily an issue affecting North America and Europe, the demographic changes will be starker in the developing world.
The projected increase in the 65+ population between 2025 and 2060 is 134.7%.
In Africa, still the youngest continent, the senior population will more than quadruple, with a projected increase of 315%, from 60 million to 249 million, surpassing Europe’s 214 million by 2060.
Latin America and the Caribbean will see a 158% increase, while Asia will see the largest numerical increase in older adults, with its population aged 65 and over forecast to rise from 487 million in 2025 to 1.24 billion by 2060.
