TOP 10 Countries with Oldest Median Age (2025)
In 2025, a small group of territories and countries stands out as the oldest societies on the planet when measured by median age — the age that splits a population into two equal halves. This article summarises the latest estimates, shows how these places aged over the past decades and discusses why their demographic trajectories matter for pensions, health systems and growth.
Median age is one of the clearest single-number summaries of a population’s age structure. Unlike the old-age dependency ratio, it does not require a specific cut-off like 65+, and unlike life expectancy it is not sensitive to mortality only. It simply tells you at what age the “middle” person in the country stands.
When median age approaches or exceeds 45–50 years, societies are typically characterised by low fertility, high longevity and a shrinking or stagnating workforce.
Several of the world’s oldest populations are very small territories with specific migration and labour patterns (for example Monaco or Saint Pierre and Miquelon). Others, like Japan, Italy, Germany and Greece, are large advanced economies whose ageing drives global debates on pensions and productivity.
This ranking keeps both types but notes where a unit is a microstate or special administrative region.
Table 1. TOP 10 countries and territories by median age, ≈2025
The table below lists an illustrative set of ten territories and countries with the highest median age in the world according to recent estimates. Values are rounded to one decimal and reflect the approximate situation in 2024–2025.
| Country / Territory | Type | Median age 2025 (years) |
|---|---|---|
| Monaco | Microstate | ≈ 56.9 |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon | French territory | ≈ 51.2 |
| Japan | Sovereign state | ≈ 49.9 |
| Andorra | Microstate | ≈ 48.8 |
| Italy | Sovereign state | ≈ 48.4 |
| Saint Barthelemy | French territory | ≈ 47.4 |
| Hong Kong SAR | Special admin. region | ≈ 47.2 |
| Spain | Sovereign state | ≈ 46.8 |
| Germany | Sovereign state | ≈ 46.8 |
| Greece | Sovereign state | ≈ 46.5 |
Note: Values are rounded and indicative, based on recent UN and international statistical estimates around 2024–2025. Microstates and territories may have smaller and more volatile populations.
Bar chart: median age in the TOP 10, around 2025
This bar chart compares the median age in years across the ten oldest populations. It shows how far above the global average these societies already are.
Line chart: trajectory of ageing in Japan, Italy and Germany
The line chart tracks how median age has evolved since 1950 in three large advanced economies that are now among the oldest in the world: Japan, Italy and Germany.
What does it mean to live in a country with a median age near 50?
A median age in the high forties means that half the population is already older than a typical person in their late forties. This does not mean that “everyone is old” — there are still children, teenagers and young adults. But the age balance of society has shifted in three important ways:
First, working-age cohorts are shrinking or stagnating. When median age rises toward 50, the classic 20–64 working-age group becomes smaller relative to retirees. Even if the pension age is gradually increased, the sheer number of older people puts pressure on pay-as-you-go pension schemes and health systems.
Second, there are fewer young entrants to the labour market. Low fertility in the 1990s and 2000s means that each new generation entering work is smaller than the one retiring. This can create staff shortages in health care, manufacturing, logistics and other sectors unless offset by immigration, automation or higher participation among women and older workers.
Third, households and local communities adapt to a new normal where older adults become the demographic mainstream. Consumption patterns shift toward health, financial services and care, while housing markets, transport systems and urban design must become age-friendly to avoid exclusion.
Why these ten? The drivers behind the world’s oldest populations
Despite their differences, the top ten all share some combination of three structural drivers of ageing:
1. Very low fertility. In Japan, Italy, Spain, Germany and Greece, period fertility rates have been below replacement for decades. Small family sizes mean that younger cohorts are much smaller than older ones.
2. Rising longevity. Medical advances, better education and improved living standards have steadily pushed life expectancy upward. Even where progress has slowed, survival into the late seventies, eighties and beyond is now common.
3. Selective migration. Some microstates and territories attract affluent, often older residents, or see younger people emigrate for work elsewhere. This can quickly raise median age even when total population is small.
The combination of these forces means that demographic change is not easily reversible. Even a sudden rise in births today would take decades to reduce median age.
Table 2. Median age in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2025 (same TOP 10)
To understand how quickly ageing has unfolded, the next table shows approximate median ages in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2025 for the same ten territories and countries. The pattern is one of steady increases, with especially strong gains since the 1990s.
| Country / Territory | Median age 1990 | Median age 2000 |
|---|---|---|
| Monaco | ≈ 38 | ≈ 43 |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon | ≈ 36 | ≈ 40 |
| Japan | ≈ 37 | ≈ 42 |
| Andorra | ≈ 35 | ≈ 40 |
| Italy | ≈ 36 | ≈ 41 |
| Saint Barthelemy | ≈ 35 | ≈ 39 |
| Hong Kong SAR | ≈ 33 | ≈ 37 |
| Spain | ≈ 35 | ≈ 39 |
| Germany | ≈ 36 | ≈ 40 |
| Greece | ≈ 35 | ≈ 39 |
Note: Historical series are illustrative and rounded, based on UN World Population Prospects and other international demographic sources. The key message is the consistent upward shift rather than exact point estimates.
Policy implications: pensions, health and productivity
The world’s oldest societies are often early laboratories for the policies that many other countries will eventually need. Their experiences highlight several areas where choices made in the 2020s will shape outcomes for decades.
On the fiscal side, keeping pension systems sustainable requires a mix of higher effective retirement ages, broader contribution bases and, in some cases, parametric reforms that link benefits more closely to lifetime contributions. The steep rise in median age is a visible sign that past assumptions about the number of workers per retiree no longer hold.
In health care, ageing populations shift demand from acute episodes to chronic disease management, long-term care and rehabilitation. Successful countries invest in primary care, integrated care pathways and support for unpaid carers, while using digital tools to maintain quality without exploding costs.
Finally, productivity policy becomes more urgent. With fewer young workers entering the labour market, governments and firms in high-median-age countries push to raise labour force participation among women and older adults, invest in skills and support automation that complements human work.
What to watch towards 2050
Looking ahead, projections suggest that by 2050 the list of countries with the oldest median ages may become more diverse. Several East Asian economies not yet in the top 10 could join or overtake today’s leaders as their large post-war baby booms move further into old age.
At the same time, some European and East Asian societies may see slight stabilisation of median age if migration inflows or modest fertility recoveries add younger cohorts. The overall direction, however, is clear: in most high-income and upper-middle-income settings the population will continue to age, even if the pace differs.
Monitoring median age alongside other indicators — such as the share of people aged 80+, the proportion of working-age adults and the old-age dependency ratio — gives policymakers and analysts a compact way to track how close their societies are to the frontier of global ageing.
Data and methods in brief
The rankings and trajectories presented here are based primarily on United Nations Population Division estimates and projections (World Population Prospects), complemented by other international demographic datasets such as the CIA World Factbook and specialised statistical portals. Where exact 2025 values are not yet available, recent estimates for 2024 are used as a proxy and rounded to illustrate orders of magnitude rather than precise point values.
For consistency with other StatRanker materials, small territories and special administrative regions with robust data coverage are retained in the TOP 10. All values should be interpreted as approximate, not official rankings, and readers working on detailed policy or academic projects should always consult the latest primary sources.
Key data sources
Below is a non-exhaustive list of primary sources that readers can consult for up-to-date figures on median age and population structure:
- United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division — World Population Prospects — official long-run series for median age and age structure by country and territory.
- UN Data Portal (UNdata) — supplementary demographic and social indicators, downloadable in machine-readable formats.
- CIA World Factbook — country profiles including median age, total population and age structure, typically updated annually.
- World Bank — World Development Indicators — demographic support series such as fertility, life expectancy and dependency ratios that help interpret median age trends.
- OECD Demography and Population databases — harmonised indicators for OECD members, including age structure, labour participation and family demographics.
Download assets: TOP 10 countries with the oldest median age
ZIP archive with the underlying CSV table and two ready-to-use PNG charts (bar ranking and ageing trajectory) for this StatRanker article on global median age. You can reuse the data and visuals in your own analysis, dashboards or presentations with attribution to StatRanker.org.
Contents: median_age_top10_2025.csv, median_age_top10_bar.png, median_age_trajectory_1950_2025.png.
