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Elder Law - Elderly Population
Last Updated: 11/1/2001
The global population is aging at an unprecedented pace, according to a new report by the U.S. Census Bureau. (An Aging World: 2001. U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau. November 2001)
Lower fertility rates and better health and longevity are generating growing numbers and proportions of elderly in virtually all nations. The world's population over age 65 is now estimated to be about 435 million, and that number is increasing by about 800,000 people each month. Projections are that by 2010, the world's elderly population will be expanding by nearly 850,000 a month.
Population aging isn't restricted to the developed world. Developing countries are aging as well, often at a much faster rate than in the developed world. In fact, the growth in the elderly population in developing countries is more than double that in developed countries. Whereas now fewer than 6 percent of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean is over age 65, this figure will double to nearly 12 percent by 2030. Over the next 30 years, Singapore will see its elderly population rise by 372 percent. The populations over age 65 in Malaysia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Philippines and Indonesia each will jump by more than 240 percent between now and 2030. By contrast, the United States' elderly population is projected to rise by a mere 102 percent over that span.
While the increases in the developing world will be dramatic, the developed world will continue to have the highest absolute percentage of elderly citizens. Thirteen years from now, nearly one in five Europeans will be over age 65. In North America, one in five residents will be elderly by 2030. Italy has now surpassed Sweden as the world's "oldest" country, with 18 percent of its population now over age 65. Greece and Sweden follow at 17.3 percent each. The United States, with a percentage of less than 13 percent elderly, doesn't even rank in the top 30. However, as the large baby boom cohort begins to reach age 65 after 2010, the percent of the elderly in the United States will rise markedly, likely reaching 20 percent by 2030.
"The coming growth, especially of the oldest old [those 80 and older]," the report states, "will be stunning. As their numbers grow, there is a heightened need to understand the characteristics of older populations, their strengths and their requirements."
Contact Linda Rich to assist you with your elder law issues.
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