Countries by Share of Population Aged 65+, 2023: Top 50 Ranking
Top Countries by Share of Population Aged 65+
Monaco has the highest share of residents aged 65 and above in this ranking, at 36.36% of the population. Japan follows at 29.56%, while Italy ranks third at 24.22%. The indicator measures the percentage of a country’s resident population aged 65 or older, so the ranking reflects age structure rather than the absolute number of older people. Higher shares rank higher.
This 2026 snapshot uses 2023 data, the latest year classified as an estimate in the United Nations World Population Prospects 2024 framework. World Bank World Development Indicators publishes the country percentages used here through indicator SP.POP.65UP.TO.ZS. Later years in the current demographic series fall within the UN projection period and are not used in this ranking.
The table is a compiled research dataset based on 3 sources, with row-level source and method notes shown in the ranking table. It covers 50 confirmed UN Member States. All 50 entries use official 2023 values based on UN population estimates; no forecast or modeled-projection rows are included.
Monaco ranks first among the 50 included UN Member States.
Andorra ranks 50th, 20.94 percentage points below Monaco.
UN Member States only; territories and regional aggregates are excluded.
World Bank WDI / UN WPP 2024 · 50 official values · 0 forecasts · 0 modeled projections.
What the 65+ population share measures
The indicator shows what percentage of a country’s resident population is aged 65 or older. Because it is a percentage, population size does not determine the rank. A small country can therefore appear above a much larger one even when the larger country has far more older residents in absolute terms.
The world value in the same 2023 World Bank series is 9.98%. Every country in this Top 50 is above that level, and 25 countries have a 65+ share of at least 20%. The ranking therefore captures countries with some of the oldest population profiles by this specific age-share measure.
A high position should not be interpreted as a measure of longevity, pension quality or health-system performance. Those questions require additional indicators, including life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, labour-force participation, old-age dependency and the absolute number of older residents.
Top 10 countries by share of population aged 65+
Monaco is the clear outlier at the top, standing 6.80 percentage points above Japan. The differences become much smaller below Japan: Italy and Portugal are both just above 24%, while Finland and Greece are close to 23.5%. Nine of the Top 10 countries are in Europe & Central Asia.
Top 10 UN Member States by population aged 65+ as a share of total population, 2023
| Rank | Entity | Value | Source / Method Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monaco | 36.36% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 2 | Japan | 29.56% | East Asia & Pacific · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 3 | Italy | 24.22% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 4 | Portugal | 24.11% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 5 | Finland | 23.58% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 6 | Greece | 23.48% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 7 | Croatia | 22.82% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 8 | Germany | 22.79% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 9 | Serbia | 22.34% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 10 | Bulgaria | 21.83% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
Values are shown to two decimal places. Ranking order is based on the unrounded 2023 percentages.
Top 20 countries by 65+ population share
Europe dominates the upper end of the ranking. Nineteen of the Top 20 countries are in Europe & Central Asia under the World Bank regional classification. Japan, ranked second overall, is the only Top 20 country from East Asia & Pacific.
Methodology
The ranking uses World Bank indicator SP.POP.65UP.TO.ZS, “Population ages 65 and above (% of total population).” World Bank metadata applies the de facto population concept, covering residents regardless of citizenship. The underlying demographic estimates come from the United Nations Population Division’s World Population Prospects.
Metric and unit
The value is the percentage of the resident population aged 65 or older. Countries are ranked from the highest share to the lowest.
Year
The ranking uses 2023 values for every country. This keeps the comparison within the estimate period of World Population Prospects 2024.
Coverage
Only UN Member States are eligible. Territories, special administrative regions and World Bank regional or income aggregates are excluded.
Source hierarchy
UN Population Division provides the underlying demographic estimates; World Bank WDI provides the published percentage and region; the UN Member States list determines country eligibility.
Calculation and rounding
The indicator represents the population aged 65 and above divided by the total population, multiplied by 100. This page uses the percentage published by World Bank WDI rather than rebuilding the ratio from separate population series. Rank is based on the full published value, while displayed percentages are rounded to two decimal places.
Missing values and conflicts
A country without a 2023 value is not included. Missing observations are not replaced with values from another year, and conflicting figures are not averaged. Where alternative databases report different numbers, the World Bank WDI value sourced from UN World Population Prospects is used consistently for this ranking.
Estimates and projections
World Population Prospects 2024 classifies 2023 within its estimate period and 2024 onward within its projection period. For that reason, this ranking stops at 2023 even though later values appear in current demographic data releases.
Assumptions
The age threshold is used exactly as published. No age-standardization, smoothing, weighting by population size or adjustment for country size is applied. World Bank regions are used only for grouping and filtering and do not affect rank.
What the metric does not measure
The indicator does not measure the absolute number of older people, healthy life expectancy, pension adequacy, retirement age, old-age dependency or fiscal pressure. Differences in the 65+ share can reflect long-term fertility, mortality and migration patterns, but the ranking alone cannot identify how much each factor contributes.
Main ranking: Top 50 countries by population aged 65+
Search by country, narrow the table by region or change the display order. Rank numbers remain tied to the original 2023 percentages even when the table is sorted or filtered.
Showing 50 entries.
Top 50 UN Member States by population aged 65+ as a share of total population, 2023
| Rank | Entity | Value | Source / Method Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monaco | 36.36% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 2 | Japan | 29.56% | East Asia & Pacific · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 3 | Italy | 24.22% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 4 | Portugal | 24.11% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 5 | Finland | 23.58% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 6 | Greece | 23.48% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 7 | Croatia | 22.82% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 8 | Germany | 22.79% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 9 | Serbia | 22.34% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 10 | Bulgaria | 21.83% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 11 | France | 21.75% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 12 | San Marino | 21.68% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 13 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 21.64% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 14 | Slovenia | 21.33% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 15 | Latvia | 21.33% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 16 | Estonia | 20.91% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 17 | Hungary | 20.82% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 18 | Spain | 20.65% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 19 | Denmark | 20.60% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 20 | Czechia | 20.55% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 21 | Sweden | 20.54% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 22 | Austria | 20.16% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 23 | Liechtenstein | 20.16% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 24 | Netherlands | 20.16% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 25 | Belgium | 20.15% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 26 | Lithuania | 19.86% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 27 | Malta | 19.80% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 28 | Romania | 19.75% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 29 | Switzerland | 19.61% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 30 | Poland | 19.56% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 31 | Canada | 19.36% | North America · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 32 | United Kingdom | 19.24% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 33 | Ukraine | 18.56% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 34 | Norway | 18.53% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 35 | Korea, Rep. | 18.34% | East Asia & Pacific · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 36 | Slovak Republic | 18.05% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 37 | North Macedonia | 17.50% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 38 | Montenegro | 17.47% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 39 | United States | 17.43% | North America · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 40 | Australia | 17.38% | East Asia & Pacific · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 41 | Belarus | 17.06% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 42 | New Zealand | 16.80% | East Asia & Pacific · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 43 | Russian Federation | 16.60% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 44 | Albania | 16.30% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 45 | Cuba | 16.20% | Latin America & Caribbean · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 46 | Barbados | 16.09% | Latin America & Caribbean · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 47 | Uruguay | 15.81% | Latin America & Caribbean · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 48 | Moldova | 15.61% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 49 | Ireland | 15.54% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
| 50 | Andorra | 15.42% | Europe & Central Asia · Official value · 2023 UN estimate via World Bank WDI. |
All percentages are 2023 World Bank WDI values sourced from UN World Population Prospects. Only UN Member States are included, and displayed values are rounded to two decimal places after ranking.
Key patterns in the ranking
Key Insight
Twenty-five of the 50 countries have a 65+ population share of at least 20%. Belgium is 25th at 20.15%, while Lithuania is 26th at 19.86%.
Notable Pattern
Much of the ranking is tightly grouped below the leaders. Italy and Portugal are separated by only 0.11 percentage points, while Slovenia and Latvia both display 21.33% after rounding.
Regional Concentration
Europe & Central Asia accounts for 41 of the 50 countries and 19 of the Top 20. Japan is the only country outside the region among the first 20 positions.
Outlier
Monaco stands well above the rest at 36.36%, a lead of 6.80 percentage points over Japan. No other adjacent pair near the top has a gap of comparable size.
What the ranking means
A high rank means older adults make up a large share of the population. It does not mean the country has the largest elderly population in absolute terms. Population size matters: a large country can have a lower percentage but a much greater absolute number of people aged 65 and above.
The ranking is useful for comparing demographic structure. Countries with large older-age shares may face different labour-market, pension, care and health-service needs than younger populations, but the scale of those effects depends on many other economic and social factors.
Age structure also reflects demographic history. Long periods of low fertility can raise the older-age share, greater longevity can keep more people in older age groups, and migration can change the balance between younger and older residents. The percentage itself shows the outcome of those forces, not their individual contribution.
FAQ
Which country has the highest share of people aged 65 and above?
Monaco ranks first at 36.36% of the population, followed by Japan at 29.56% and Italy at 24.22%.
Are these 2026 population figures?
No. The page is a 2026 snapshot using 2023 population estimates, the latest year before the projection period in World Population Prospects 2024.
Why does the ranking use 2023 instead of 2025?
World Population Prospects 2024 classifies 2024 onward as projection years. Using 2023 keeps every country in the ranking within the estimate period.
Does the ranking include territories?
No. It is limited to UN Member States, so territories and separately reported non-sovereign economies are excluded.
Does a higher percentage mean a country has more older people?
No. The ranking measures population share. A larger country can have a lower percentage but a much greater absolute number of people aged 65 and above.
Is this the same as the old-age dependency ratio?
No. An old-age dependency ratio compares an older age group with a defined working-age population. This indicator divides the population aged 65+ by the total population.
What population definition does the World Bank use?
The indicator uses the de facto population concept, which is based on residents rather than citizenship.
Can historical population estimates change?
Yes. International demographic estimates can be revised when new census, registration, survey or other demographic evidence becomes available.
Sources
World Bank World Development Indicators
Primary source for the 2023 country percentages and regional classification. Indicator SP.POP.65UP.TO.ZS measures population ages 65 and above as a percentage of total population. World Bank metadata also provides the indicator definition, de facto population concept and attribution to the UN Population Division.
United Nations — World Population Prospects 2024
Underlying demographic source and methodological reference for the estimate period through 2023 and the projection period beginning in 2024.
https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/World-Population-Prospects-2024
United Nations — Member States
Used to limit the ranking to UN Member States and exclude territories and separately reported non-sovereign economies.
