The median age of a population provides a useful summary of the overall age profile. In 2018, the median age of the EU population was 43.1 years.
Across the EU Member States, the median age was below 40.0 years in Luxembourg, Cyprus and Ireland, where the lowest median age was recorded (37.3 years). By contrast, the median age of the population was considerably higher in Germany (46.0 years) and peaked in Italy (46.3 years).
The EU’s median age is projected to increase by 3.8 years during the next three decades, to reach 46.9 years by 2050. This pattern will be repeated in each of the EU Member States, with the median age of the population projected to rise by 8.0 years or more in Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Cyprus.
At the other end of the range, the age profiles of Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden will likely evolve at a slower pace, as their median ages are projected to increase by less than 3.0 years during the period under consideration.
Would you like to know more?
- Are there more older women then older men in Europe?
- How many people work after 55 years? And after 65 years?
- Which type of jobs are most common with elderly workers?
- What is the expected duration of a working life? Is there any gender difference?
- As the number of pension beneficiaries will increase – what happens to the number pension contributors?
- Do people believe that the retirement age needs to increase?
Take a look at the new publication 'Ageing Europe – looking at the lives of older people' that provides a broad range of statistics that describe the everyday lives of the EU’s older generations.
A selection of indicators is available as a digital publication with interactive graphs.
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