Archive:EU-Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) - statistics on active ageing
- Data up to August 2014. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article focuses on the conditions that support the active participation of older people in everyday life and allow them to continue to contribute to society in general as healthy and autonomous individuals in both the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the EU-28 Member States.
Older people are defined here as either people who are at least 65 years old or have retired from the labour market, depending on the context. In order to analyse active ageing several indicators can be taken into account: the share of older people in the total population, their educational attainment and participation in the labour market after the age of 65 or retirement age, the health services and infrastructure available and the public expenditure on health, the retirement age and the purchasing power of an old-age pension.
The ratio of young to old is considerably greater in the CIS countries compared to EU-28 Member States. Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan stand out, with an old-age dependency ratio of over 12 people of working age per 1 older individual (Figure 2). The age distribution of the population provides a fundamental advantage in terms of active ageing to the CIS countries.
The extent to which the older population is able to participate autonomously and contribute actively to social and labour life also depends on their education level. On average the older population in the CIS is more educated than in the EU-28, since 60.5 % of the population aged over 65 years in the EU-28 has not completed secondary education (including ISCED level 2), while the share in the CIS countries is 46.7 % (Figure 3).
As far as the participation in the labour market is concerned, the senior population in the EU-28 and CIS countries present similar activity rates (5.2 % and 5.3 % respectively, see Table 1), even though certain countries deviate significantly (especially Armenia, with an activity rate of 29.0 %). People in the CIS countries generally retire at a younger age (men at 62, women at 57) than in the EU-28 (men at 65, women at 61.5).
Health provisions and services are a key parameter for active ageing since the older population encounters considerable health-related challenges due to aging. General government expenditure on health is much greater in the EU-28 (EUR 1 905 per capita on average, see Figure 5) than in the CIS (EUR 238 per capita on average), even though this may be determined by the cost of health services in different countries. Older populations in the CIS countries have access to significantly more doctors (45 per 100 000 people, see Figure 6) and hospital beds (86 per 100 000 people) than in the EU-28 Member States (22 and 54 per 100 000 people respectively).
The average old-age pension is also much higher in the EU-28 (EUR 707 on average in 2011) than in the CIS (EUR 169 on average), which, combined with the relatively higher inflation levels in the CIS countries, constitutes an important advantage for the EU-28, as the purchasing power of pensioners in the EU-28 Member States is both greater and more sustainable than in the CIS countries.
Main statistical findings
The share of people aged over 65 is lower in the CIS than in the EU-28
The share of older people in the total population has an impact on the level of support required by the older population and received from the younger population, as well as on roles of government (both national and regional) and private institutions to facilitate the active participation of older people in all aspects of everyday life.
CIS countries have a considerably smaller share of older population (10.9 % on average) than the EU-28 Member States (18.2 % on average). Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan in particular correspond to a share of less than 5 % each (Figure 1).
The old-age dependency ratio is a measure of how much the population of working age (aged 15–64) corresponds to an older person (aged over 65) and is used to evaluate the potential support the younger population can provide to the older population through their labour. The old-age dependency ratio for all CIS countries (6.3 on average but even higher if Russia, Belarus and Ukraine are excluded, see Figure 2) is larger than for the EU-28 (3.64).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (demo_pjangroup), World Bank and CIS-STAT
(%)
Source: Eurostat (demo_pjangroup) and CIS-STAT
Educational level of the elderly
Older people are more educated in the CIS than in the EU-28
The educational level of the over 65 population is related to the level of involvement they can achieve in social life through autonomous participation and in the labour market through their knowledge and experience. For comparability purposes, those aged 65 or older without successfully completed secondary education (including post-secondary non-tertiary education) are considered as individuals with less potential to act autonomously and therefore requiring greater support to be an active part of society.
Figure 3 illustrates that over 50 % of the older population in most EU-28 Member States have not completed secondary education (EU-28 average: 60.5 %), while the shares for Portugal (93 %), Spain (85.4 %), Italy (83.1 %) and Greece (79.9 %) are significantly higher. Russia (47.3 %) and Ukraine (45.9 %) on the other hand present a significantly lower share, while Moldova is the only CIS country with a share greater than the EU-28 average.
(% within the total population aged 65 or over)
Source: Barro-Lee educational attainment dataset, 2010
Participation of older people in the labour market
Significant variations at country level but similar level of economic activity on average at CIS and EU-28 level
The activity rate of the older population is evidently a key evaluation indicator of active ageing. Table 1 indicates that the average activity rate in the CIS countries (5.3 %) and the EU-28 (5.2 %) is almost the same. Armenia (29.0 % in 2011) has the greatest activity rate by far, while Portugal (13.4 %), Romania (11.3 %) and Estonia (10.7 %) have the greater activity rates among the EU-28 Member States.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfsa_pganws), World Bank, CIS-STAT and ILO
The regular retirement age is another key indicator of participation of older people in the labour market. The average (median) retirement age in EU-28 Member States is 65 years for men and 61.5 years for women, while in the CIS countries it is 62 years for men and 57 years for women (Figure 4). Following the activity rate, the retirement age varies significantly across countries.
Source: Eurostat CIS-STAT and UN DESA — Population Division (for Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Romania)
Public expenditure on health, medical doctors and hospital beds
Greater public expenditure on health in the EU-28, more medical doctors and hospital beds in the CIS
Public expenditure on health and the number of doctors and hospital beds available to the population are indicators that summarise the provisions made by the government and the institutions to provide health related services to the population. These services are particularly vital to the older population who face additional health related challenges due to their age.
Figure 5 illustrates that general government expenditure on health per capita in the CIS countries (EUR 238 on average) is significantly lower than both the World average (EUR 489) and the EU-28 average (EUR 1 905). In fact, with the exception of Bulgaria and Romania, all EU-28 Member States present a higher expenditure than Russia (EUR 363) which is the CIS country with the greatest general government expenditure per capita.
(EUR per capita)
Source: EU Member States: Eurostat (gov_10a_exp); CIS countries: Global Health Expenditure Datbase — NHA indicators (http://apps.who.int/nha/database)
The fact that public expenditure on health is considerably greater in the EU-28 Member States is related to the fact that a greater share of the population is 65 years of age which is more than in the CIS countries. However, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine provide more than double the amount of medical doctors than the EU-28 average (22 per 100 000 population) and at least 70 % more available hospital beds (the EU-28 average is 54 per 100 000 population) (Figure 6).
(per 100 000 population)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_rs_prshp1) and (hlth_rs_bds) and CIS-STAT
Old-age pension beneficiaries and average old-age pension
More beneficiaries, less compensation for the CIS countries
Old-age pension is the most common source of income for the population over 65 years of age. Since the retirement age can be less than the age of 65 (Figure 4), old-age pension beneficiaries are more than the total population of people aged 65 or more. In Figure 7, it is evident that the coverage of old-age pension to beneficiaries in the CIS countries (except Armenia) and the EU-28 Member States (except Ireland, Belgium, Malta, Cyprus, Croatia and Spain) exceeds 100 %. The ratio for Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan even exceeds 170 % (CIS average).
The usual criterion for the acquisition of old-age beneficiary status is reaching a certain age, even though the status can be obtained at a younger age if certain country-specific conditions are met. The number of beneficiaries is important for policy-making, while the average old-age pension is a measure of the purchasing power of this specific population and thus an important parameter of active ageing.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (spr_pns_ben), CIS-STAT and World Bank
Table 2 shows that the average monthly pension in the EU-28 was EUR 707 in 2011, while in December of the same year the average old-age pension for the CIS countries was EUR 169. Moreover, the old-age pension in most of the CIS countries was significantly lower than the respective values for the Balkan (with the exception of Greece) and Baltic EU Member States, which in turn deviate significantly from the rest of the EU-28 Member States. Bulgaria (EUR 116) and Romania (EUR 197) were the only EU-28 Member States with smaller monthly old-age pensions than some CIS countries. Inflation was also bigger for the CIS countries (at 7.6 % it was the lowest in Moldova among CIS countries, while the maximum among EU-28 Member States was 5.8 % in Romania), which indicates that the purchasing power of the older people in the CIS countries was significantly smaller than in the EU-28 Member States.
Source: Eurostat (spr_pns_ben), (spr_exp_pens) and (demo_pjangroup), CIS-STAT (pension data for CIS countries) and World Bank (inflation data for CIS and EU-28 Member States)
Data sources and availability
All data used in this publication are provided by CIS-STAT (latest annual data per indicator presented), except for the data mentioned below:
Population data for EU-28 Member States stem from Eurostat. CIS-STAT and World Bank data were combined in order to produce comparable data for CIS countries.
All education attainment data used in this article stem from the latest version of the Barro-Lee Educational Attainment Dataset. The dataset compiles information from UNESCO web database (UIS.Stat) and other national sources. No data are available for Belarus, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Employment data for the EU-28 stem from Eurostat (EU-LFS). Comparable data were produced for the CIS countries by combining information from CIS-STAT, ILO and World Bank. No data are available for Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Retirement age data for Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Romania stem from United Nations.
General government expenditure on health per capita for all CIS and EU-28 countries and aggregates was calculated by combining three different data sources: World Bank (for World total and Moldavia): Eurostat data on Government expenditure by function (COFOG) in the case of the EU Member States and the Global Health Expenditure Database — NHA indicators from the World Health Organization. EU-28 data on the availability of medical doctors and hospital beds stem from Eurostat.
EU-28 data on the old-age pension beneficiaries stem from Eurostat. Missing data for CIS countries were filled in by Protection and Labor/Beneficiaries_Coverage_3Q2014.xlsx World Bank figures. Old-age pension beneficiaries’ coverage was calculated by dividing to the population 65+ years old, as provided by the same data source per country. Monthly old-age pension data for EU-28 Member States was calculated from annual Eurostat data converted in monthly USD values per capita. Inflation data stem from World Bank. No data are available for Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Context
Active ageing in the CIS countries is empowered through a different approach than in the EU-28 Member States. The purchasing power of old-age pension and the public expenditure on health per capita are significantly higher in the EU-28 (EUR 976 per month and EUR 1 905 per year respectively), while in the CIS countries the older population has a better chance to participate actively in everyday life by retiring at a younger age, being better educated and making use of more health services due to the support received by the younger population.
See also
- European Neighbourhood Policy - East - population statistics
- Population structure and ageing
- The EU in the world - population
- The EU in the world - health
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- Active ageing and solidarity between generations — A statistical portrait of the European Union 2012
Methodology / Metadata
Data provided by different sources are comparable at indicator level. CIS and EU-28 averages and aggregates were calculated from national data when not available by the sources.
Potential support ratio is calculated as the number of people aged 15–64 per one older person aged 65 or older.
The share of the elderly population with incomplete secondary education or lower educational level is calculated as the share of people aged 65 or older with no schooling, complete or incomplete primary education or incomplete secondary education.
For the calculation of activity rates for the EU-28 Member States, EU-LFS data for the total population are used instead of population census data.
Public expenditure on health per capita is calculated by multiplying the public expenditure on health as a share of GDP and the GDP in USD and then dividing by the total population. All data used for the CIS countries stem from the World Bank.
Old-age pension beneficiaries’ coverage is calculated as the ratio of the total old-age pension beneficiaries to the population aged 65 or older, expressed as a percent (%).
Source data for tables, figures and maps (MS Excel)
External links
- Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS
- World Bank
- ISCED-97 classification
- Barro-Lee Educational Attainment Dataset
- UNESCO web database (UIS.Stat)
- International Labour Organization (ILO)
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs — Population Division
Notes
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