Older people outnumber children in 38 countries, up from 10

Claim types Estimate · Interpretation

Estimate. World Bank World Development Indicators, Population ages 65 and above, total (SP.POP.65UP.TO) and Population ages 0–14, total (SP.POP.0014.TO), WDI, last updated 11 Nov 2026, based on UN DESA World Population Prospects 2024 estimates; read from the World Bank API via the progrss vault (GUIDELINES §4.11; source wb-wdi passes value checks, 21 matches, 0 mismatches). 2023 is the latest estimate year: the World Bank's 2024 and 2025 values are UN projections and are not used. Set: the 160 economies the World Bank lists as countries (including Hong Kong and Puerto Rico) with at least 1 million people in 2023, fixed for every year. Count of countries where people 65+ exceed children 0–14 (progrss calculation): 10 (2003), 15 (2005), 23 (2010), 25 (2013), 29 (2015), 34 (2020), 38 (2023); the count did not fall in any year (Ukraine sat at the line in 2013, dipped below in 2014 and crossed again in 2015). The ten in 2003: Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Portugal, Serbia, Spain. First year over the line since 2015: Poland 2015, Canada and Korea 2016, United Kingdom 2017, Slovakia 2018, Norway 2020, Singapore 2021, Cuba 2022, Belarus and North Macedonia 2023. Close to the line in 2023 (people 65+ per 100 children): United States 99.1, Thailand 97.5, Australia 96.4, Albania 95.7, Russia 94.8. Highest: Japan 253.8, Hong Kong 202.3, Puerto Rico 201.9, Italy 199.4. China 86.3. Puerto Rico (US) is counted but not drawn on the tile map. Same-method control: all 160 countries come from the same UN estimate series. Takeaway 3 is progrss's interpretation. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank).