Only 4.5 percent (about 1.5 million) of older adults live in nursing homes and 2 percent (1 million) in assisted living facilities. The majority of older adults (93.5 percent, or 33.4 million) live in the community.
Many older adults, of course, do move to planned senior housing—communities for “active seniors, ” independent living, assisted living, nursing homes, or continuing care communities that combine all of the above. Some sit behind walls and guardhouses.
Globally, living in extended-family households – those that include relatives such as grandchildren, nephews and adult children's spouses – is the most common arrangement for people 60 and older.
Monaco has the oldest population of the world with 36 percent of Japanese being over 65. Germany on the other hand has 22 percent of its population being over 65 in 2022.
Asia faces a problem: Its population is aging faster than any other continent's. A growing percentage of people in Japan, South Korea and China are over 65, and those countries' economies are suffering because of a lack of available workers. Governments are struggling to find the money to support retirees.
Finland has one of the oldest populations of Europe. The so-called baby boomer generation born between 1945 and 1949 has already retired, and the share of over-65-year-olds of the population will increase from 20 percent in late 2010s to 26 percent by 2030 and to 29 percent by 2060.
Population ages 65 and above, percent of total, 2021 - Country rankings: The average for 2021 based on 196 countries was 9.72 percent. The highest value was in Monaco: 35.97 percent and the lowest value was in Qatar: 1.4 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2021.
China is the top country by population aged 90+ years in the world.
Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Canada and the United States are the countries with the best elderly care.
Traditionally, the “elderly” are considered to be those persons age 65 and older.
Generally, someone over the age of 65 might be considered an older person. However, it is not easy to apply a strict definition because people can biologically age at different rates so, for example, someone aged 75 may be healthier than someone aged 60.
The researchers found that older adults who left their homes on a daily basis were at the lowest risk of death, while those who rarely left their homes had the highest mortality risk.
Falls do not occur at random—there is no Poisson distribution. One-third of people over 65 will fall at least once a year. Most falls occur on the flat; falls on the stairs or in the bathroom are relatively rare. Old women tend to fall in the house, old men in the garden.
Late adulthood spans the time when we reach our mid-sixties until death. This is the longest developmental stage across the lifespan.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of loss of vision in people over 65 years of age. AMD is characterized by degeneration of the macula, the area of the retina responsible for central vision (Figure 1).
Successful aging requires a lot of different factors, and Norway seems to do well on all of them. For example, older Norwegians have high-income security through a generous universal pension system. They also benefit from a health care system that supports all Norwegians from the time they are born.
In 2022, over three million care home beds were in operation in just seven European countries. That year, with 900 thousand care home beds, Germany operated more beds than any other European country.
Switzerland has a healthcare system with universal insurance coverage and a social insurance system, ensuring an adequate financial situation for 96% of the 1.1 million older inhabitants.
U.S. life expectancy at birth
On average, a person living in the U.S. can expect to live to 76.1 years. Asian people have the longest average life expectancy (83.5 years) and American Indian/Alaska Natives the shortest (65.2 years).
1. Monaco. One of the smallest countries in the world, Monaco also has the UN's longest estimated life expectancy of any country as of 2023. Males in Monaco are expected to live an average of 85.17 years, and females are expected to live an even longer 88.99 years, for an overall average of 87.01 years.
Individuals should plan for living well beyond the average – to age 95 or even 100 – especially those in good health. For non-smokers in excellent health, there is almost one in three chance that women will live to age 95 or beyond and one in five chance that men will live to age 95 or beyond.
To compare, in 2021 the three population groups, young people (0 to 14 years old), working age (15 to 64 years old) and older people (aged 65 and over) represented, respectively, 15.1 %, 64.1 % and 20.8 % of the EU's population.
Japan, the country with the world's oldest population as of 2021, will be surpassed by China and South Korea before 2050. The report also found that people aged 80 and older are the fastest growing portion of the total population in many countries.