According to a new report, An Aging World: 2008, produced by the US Census Bureau on behalf of the National Institute on Aging, the average age of the world’s population is increasing at an unprecedented rate. The number of people worldwide aged 65 and older was estimated to be 506 million at mid-2008; by 2040, that number will reach 1.3 billion. Thus, in just over 30 years, the proportion of older people will double from 7 percent to 14 percent of the total world population.

An Aging World: 2008 examines nine international population trends identified in 2007 by the NIA and the U.S. Department of State. The report also contains detailed information on life expectancy, health, disability, gender balance, marital status, living arrangements, education and literacy, labour force participation, and retirement and pensions among older people around the world.

Aging is affecting every country in every part of the world. While there are important differences between developed and developing countries, global aging is changing the social and economic nature of the planet and presenting difficult challenges. The fact that, within 10 years, for the first time in human history there will be more people aged 65 and older than children under 5 in the world underlines the extent of this change.

The report also notes that:

• While developed nations have relatively high proportions of people aged 65 and older, the most rapid increases in the older population are in the developing world. The current rate of growth of the older population in developing countries is more than double that in developed countries, and is also double that of the total world population.
• As of 2008, 62 percent (313 million) of the world’s people aged 65 and older lived in developing countries. By 2040, today’s developing countries are likely to be home to more than 1 billion people aged 65 and over, 76 percent of the projected world total.
• The oldest old, people aged 80 and older, are the fastest growing portion of the total population in many countries. Globally, the oldest old population is projected to increase 233 percent between 2008 and 2040, compared with 160 percent for the population aged 65 and over and 33 percent for the total population of all ages.
• The population aged 65 and over in China and India alone numbered 166 million in 2008, nearly one-third of the world’s total. Issues related to population aging in the world’s two most populous nations will be accentuated in the coming decades as the absolute number climbs to 551 million in 2040 (329 million in China and 222 million in India).
• Childlessness among European and U.S. women aged 65 and older in 2005 ranged from less than 8 percent in the Czech Republic to 15 percent in Austria and Italy. Twenty percent of women aged between 40 and 44 in the United States in 2006 had no biologic children. These data raise questions about the provision of care when childless couples reach advanced ages.
• Older people provide support to as well as receive support from their children. In countries with well-established pension and social security programmes, many older adults provide shelter and financial assistance to their adult children and grandchildren. Older people in developing countries, although less likely to provide financial help to children, make substantial contributions to family well-being through such activities as household maintenance and grandchild care.

The full report can be read here.