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The 10 Countries With the Largest Share of People Over 65 |
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Japan is the country everyone names first. Japan is second. Monaco leads — more than a third of its 38,400 residents are 65 or older. The eight countries behind them are all European, and two of them are old for a reason that has nothing to do with living longer. |
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Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024, via World Bank indicators. Share of population aged 65 and over, 2025. Sovereign states only. |
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| What's Surprising |
Monaco has 38,400 residents. About 13,800 of them are 65 or older. The median age is 57.5 years, the oldest on Earth and roughly six years above Japan's. Monaco has charged residents no income tax since 1869. People move there late and stay.
Serbia and Croatia are old for a different reason. Serbia had 7.49 million people in 2002 and 6.7 million in 2022. The young left for Germany and Ireland. The old stayed. A country's over-65 share climbs when the middle of the population walks out, and nobody lives a day longer for it.
Italy is the pure version of the other cause. Italians had 355,000 babies in 2025, the fewest on record, against 652,000 deaths. The fertility rate is 1.14. Italy's over-65 population grew by 240,000 in one year, to 14.8 million.
| What's Not Surprising |
The rest of the list is what a demographer would draw from memory. Portugal 24.9%. Greece 24.4%. Finland 24.2%. Germany 23.7%. Long lives, few births, no wave of young migrants to pull the average down. Nothing here is a shock except the order.
The bottom of the table is the more useful half. The United Arab Emirates has the world's lowest share at 1.8%. That is not longevity in reverse. The UAE imports workers and they leave before they retire. Nigeria is at 3.1% and India at 7.4% because both are still having children.
The big economies sit in between. United States 18.4%. China 14.9%. South Korea is the one to look at: it crossed 20% in December 2024, faster than any country in history. China is on the same road with far less money per person.
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57.5 years Monaco's median age, the oldest population on Earth. Japan's is about six years younger. |
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355,000 Births in Italy in 2025, the fewest on record. Deaths that year: 652,000. Nearly two deaths for every birth. |
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1.8% The United Arab Emirates, the world's lowest share of over-65s. Migrant workers go home before they get there. |
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854 million People aged 65 or older worldwide. That is 10.4% of everyone alive. |
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20.3% South Korea's share. It crossed 20% in December 2024, faster than any country in history. |
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Japan publishes its own count every September, before Respect for the Aged Day. Last year's figure was 29.4% — 36.19 million people, a record, and the highest of any country with more than 40 million people. The UN's estimate for Japan is already 30%. This month's release shows whether Japan's own number crosses it. Istat reports on Italy again in the spring. Korea is the pace car for everyone else. We'll be watching. |
