By Krishna Seshan
MnSF member

The world’s population age 65 and older is growing by an unprecedented 800,000 people a month, according to a December 2007 report by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Institute on Aging. The report, “An Aging World: 2001,” predicts that this phenomenon of global aging will continue well into the 21st century, with the numbers and proportions of older people continuing to rise in both developed and developing worlds. The pace of population aging, the report found, varies widely among countries.

Generally, developing countries are aging faster than more developed ones. Demographers estimated that more than three-quarters of the world’s net gain of older people from 1999 to 2000 occurred in still-developing countries. The ratio of older people to total population differs widely among countries, too. The United States was 32nd on a list of ranking countries with high proportions of people age 65 and older. Italy replaced Sweden as the world’s oldest country in 2000, with 18 percent of Italians having attained age 65.

According to the United Nations Population Division 2002 report, the number of people 60 or older will grow to nearly 2 billion in 2050, for the first time in recorded history outnumbering those who are younger than 15, a trend that will have an impact on economic growth, investment strategies, tax policy and elections around the world.

The report said the elderly are the world’s fastest growing population segment. They now number 629 million, or about one out of every 10 people. While those 80 and older make up 12 percent of people over 60, they will comprise 19 percent in 2050, it is estimated. The number of centenarians is projected to increase 15-fold over the same period, to 3.2 million in 48 years from about 210,000 today.