WORLD IN STATS / INDICATORS

Population aged 65 and over

Population ages 65 and above as a percentage of the total population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

Unit
% of population
Geographic coverage
217 of 217 countries have numeric values
Source dataset update
8 October 2026
EXPLORE THE DATA

Population aged 65 and over

% of population · 2000–2026

Compare up to three countries. Remove one below to make room for another.

Select up to three countries
Showing selected countries and up to 12 suggestions. Search by name or code across 217 countries and economies.

Selected window: 2000–2026. Solid: observed · Dashed: estimate/projection · Dotted: source status unclassified · Diamond: 2026.

Portugal · Latest value: 2026United States · Latest value: 2026Japan · Latest value: 2026
Population aged 65 and over by country9.215.221.127.133.1200020132026Estimate or projection; source editions and methods may differ.Portugal · 2000 · 16.13 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2001 · 16.39 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2002 · 16.61 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2003 · 16.81 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2004 · 17.04 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2005 · 17.27 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2006 · 17.46 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2007 · 17.66 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2008 · 17.89 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2009 · 18.18 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2010 · 18.52 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2011 · 18.87 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2012 · 19.2 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2013 · 19.63 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2014 · 20.11 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2015 · 20.57 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2016 · 21.03 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2017 · 21.49 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2018 · 21.93 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2019 · 22.39 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2020 · 22.86 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2021 · 23.29 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2022 · 23.69 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2023 · 24.11 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2024 · 24.53 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2025 · 24.94 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIPortugal · 2026 · 25.37 % of population · PROJECTION · UN World Population Prospects 2024 · medium variantEstimate or projection; source editions and methods may differ.United States · 2000 · 12.19 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2001 · 12.14 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2002 · 12.11 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2003 · 12.1 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2004 · 12.11 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2005 · 12.13 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2006 · 12.18 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2007 · 12.31 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2008 · 12.49 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2009 · 12.67 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2010 · 12.84 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2011 · 13.07 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2012 · 13.38 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2013 · 13.7 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2014 · 14.01 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2015 · 14.31 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2016 · 14.61 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2017 · 14.94 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2018 · 15.29 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2019 · 15.67 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2020 · 16.07 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2021 · 16.47 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2022 · 16.92 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2023 · 17.43 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2024 · 17.93 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2025 · 18.39 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIUnited States · 2026 · 18.84 % of population · PROJECTION · UN World Population Prospects 2024 · medium variantEstimate or projection; source editions and methods may differ.Japan · 2000 · 17.44 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2001 · 18.03 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2002 · 18.6 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2003 · 19.09 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2004 · 19.62 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2005 · 20.28 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2006 · 20.98 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2007 · 21.63 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2008 · 22.25 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2009 · 22.76 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2010 · 23.1 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2011 · 23.65 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2012 · 24.51 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2013 · 25.41 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2014 · 26.23 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2015 · 26.92 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2016 · 27.51 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2017 · 27.98 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2018 · 28.35 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2019 · 28.63 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2020 · 28.92 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2021 · 29.22 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2022 · 29.4 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2023 · 29.56 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2024 · 29.78 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2025 · 29.99 % of population · UNCLASSIFIED · World Bank · WDIJapan · 2026 · 30.2 % of population · PROJECTION · UN World Population Prospects 2024 · medium variant
Select a point to see its value.

Hover over a line or tap a point. Keyboard: Tab to the chart, then use left/right for years and up/down for countries. Home/End selects the first/last observation. The vertical axis does not start at zero.

PROJECTION · 2026 · dashed lines; diamonds only in 2026. Unclassified source values are not certified observed.
Portugal United States Japan
How to read this chart

Unclassified means the provider did not supply an explicit observation/estimate flag. It does not mean the value is unreliable. Source or methodology changes can affect trends across editions.

Countries publish data on different schedules. A shorter line or a gap means the source has no value for that country and year. Missing values are not zero. Only separately sourced official estimates or projections may fill gaps; we do not invent intermediate values. Use Table to inspect individual years.

The source-check date tells you when we retrieved the data, not the year it describes. Use the observation year when citing a value.

Compare the same definition and period. Differences are descriptive, not causal. National measurement methods may differ; crude rates are not age-standardised. Missing uncertainty intervals in this feed do not mean an estimate is exact.

At the same point in time

Latest comparable common year within this selection: 2026.

United States minus Portugal: -6.53 percentage points.

Japan minus Portugal: 4.82 percentage points.

Calculated by World in Stats from the named source values. This comparison includes 2026 projections, not observed outcomes. Differences are not causal effects.
Where did these numbers come from?
Dataset
World Development Indicators
Original indicator
SP.POP.65UP.TO.ZS · Original source
Data providers
World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division
Source dataset update
8 October 2026
Retrieved
13 October 2026
Publication date
Not supplied separately by the API
Definition
Population ages 65 and above as a percentage of the total population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
Unit
% of population
Transformations
None. Display values may be rounded; CSV retains source precision.
Licence & attribution
World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division. Source attribution and terms. No endorsement implied.
Verification
Exact API query · Indicator metadata

Interpreting this indicator

This share describes the age composition of the population. An increase does not establish how many people need care or have retired. Read it alongside total population to distinguish changes in the share from changes in the number of older residents.

Understand percentages, rates and uncertainty

Data availability varies by country and year. Compare the same definition and time period. Revisions may change historical observations; these values belong to the snapshot retrieved on 13 October 2026.

This feed does not supply uncertainty intervals for these observations. No ranking or causal explanation is inferred.