In 2020, 20.6% of the EU population was aged 65 years or over; this was 3.0 percentage points higher than the corresponding share from a decade earlier. This article looks into the elderly population across EU regions, older people being considered at higher risk from the COVID-19.
Across the EU Member States, the highest share of the elderly in the total population in 2020 was observed in Italy (23.2%), followed by Greece and Finland (22.3% each), Portugal (22.1%), Germany (21.8%) and Bulgaria (21.6%). The lowest shares were recorded in Ireland (14.4%) and in Luxembourg (14.5%).
At regional level, the highest shares of elderly people were found in Chemnitz (29.3%) in Germany, followed by Liguria (28.7%) in Italy, Epirus (27.3%) in Greece, Limousin (27.1%) in France and Saxony-Anhalt (27.0%) in Germany. The lowest shares were recorded in two overseas regions of France: Mayotte (2.7%) and French Guiana (6.1%), and the Spanish autonomous region of Melilla (11.1%).
Source datasets: demo_pjanind (national) and demo_r_pjanind2 (regional)
For more information:
- These population data refer to the resident population of a given area on 1 January of the year in question.
- In this article, the regional data are presented at NUTS 2 level (2016). The names of the regions are in English.
- European Commission’s dedicated page on the impact of demographic change in Europe
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