Countries with the Most Aged Populations

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The global population is aging due to two primary reasons: increasing life expectancy and declining fertility rates.

Geographic Distribution of Aging Populations

Europe and parts of South East Asia have the most aged populations. Conversely, Africa and some regions in West/Central Asia have younger populations.

Monaco stands out as the country with the oldest population. With a median age of 55.4, half of its residents are older than this age. This is aligned with Monaco having the world’s highest life expectancy at 89.6 years and a very low fertility rate of 1.53, placing it 197th out of 227 countries.
Other countries who have a a significant aging populations — median age over 46 years — include Japan, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Germany, Italy and Andorra. Each of these countries has a life expectancy above 80 years and fertility rates below 1.60.
The United States has a median age of 38.5 years, ranking it 48th globally.

In contrast, there are countries with much younger median ages.

Niger, in West Africa, has a median age of just 14.8 years.
Following Niger are Uganda, Angola, Mali, and Chad, all with median ages below 16.5 years. These countries have high fertility rates, all above 5.24. However, their life expectancies are below 70 years, with Chad having the shortest at 59.6 years, ranking it 222nd out of 227 countries.

Table: Median Age, Life Expectancy, Fertility Rate, Birth Rate by Country and Their Ranks

Country	Median Age	Rank	Life Expectancy	Rank	Fertility Rate	Rank	Birth Rate	Rank
Monaco	55.4	1	89.6	1	1.53	197	6.61	226
Japan	48.6	2	85.0	4	1.39	215	6.9	224
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	48.5	3	81.6	41	1.59	187	6.54	227
Germany	47.8	4	81.7	38	1.58	190	9.02	198
Italy	46.5	5	82.8	19	1.24	222	7	222
Andorra	46.2	6	83.6	9	1.46	207	6.87	225
Hong Kong, SAR	45.6	7	83.8	8	1.23	223	7.85	217
Saint Barthelemy	45.6	7	80.8	46	1.64	176	9.3	194
Greece	45.3	9	81.7	39	1.4	214	7.52	219
San Marino	45.2	10	84.1	5	1.53	197	8.88	200
Slovenia	44.9	11	82.0	33	1.6	185	8.12	214
Isle of Man	44.6	12	82.3	28	1.88	129	10.49	178
Portugal	44.6	12	81.7	39	1.44	212	7.99	215
Austria	44.5	14	82.5	25	1.51	201	9.39	192
Lithuania	44.5	14	76.0	118	1.61	183	9.09	197
Latvia	44.4	16	76.2	113	1.55	194	8.5	209
Guernsey	44.3	17	83.4	11	1.59	187	9.73	189
Croatia	43.9	18	77.5	91	1.46	207	8.6	207
Spain	43.9	18	82.8	21	1.29	220	7.12	221
Bulgaria	43.7	20	75.8	120	1.51	201	7.97	216
Estonia	43.7	20	78.1	84	1.62	181	8.48	210
Liechtenstein	43.7	20	82.8	22	1.69	171	10.3	182
Bermuda	43.6	23	82.3	28	1.89	125	10.97	167
Hungary	43.6	23	77.4	92	1.49	205	8.58	208
Puerto Rico	43.6	23	81.9	35	1.25	221	7.84	218
Serbia	43.4	26	75.1	131	1.46	207	8.87	201
Bosnia and Herzegovina	43.3	27	78.2	83	1.37	216	8.31	212
Czech Republic	43.3	27	80.0	55	1.5	204	8.43	211
Republic of Korea	43.2	29	83.2	15	1.11	226	6.95	223
Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	43.2	29	80.7	49	1.61	183	9.33	193
Finland	42.8	31	82.0	34	1.74	155	10.33	180
Netherlands	42.8	31	82.4	27	1.77	146	10.98	166
Switzerland	42.7	33	83.4	11	1.58	190	10.3	182
Romania	42.5	34	76.3	110	1.63	177	8.63	206
Malta	42.3	35	83.4	13	1.51	201	9.59	191
Taiwan	42.3	35	81.4	43	1.09	227	7.33	220
Cuba	42.1	37	79.9	58	1.71	164	9.99	186
Denmark	42.0	38	81.9	36	1.77	146	11.25	164
Poland	41.9	39	79.0	67	1.41	213	8.31	212
Canada	41.8	40	84.0	6	1.57	192	10.11	184
Slovak Republic	41.8	40	78.6	74	1.46	207	8.78	205
Virgin Islands	41.8	40	80.5	51	1.98	107	11.35	163
France	41.7	43	82.8	19	2.02	102	11.56	162
Belgium	41.6	44	82.1	31	1.77	146	10.86	169
Ukraine	41.2	45	73.7	147	1.57	192	8.79	204
Sint Maarten	41.1	46	79.5	63	1.98	107	12.41	144
Sweden	41.1	46	82.8	18	1.67	172	10.76	173
Belarus	40.9	48	74.5	140	1.52	199	8.87	201
Macau, SAR	40.8	49	85.2	3	1.23	223	8.82	203
United Kingdom	40.6	50	82.1	32	1.63	177	10.8	170
Cayman Islands	40.5	51	82.3	28	1.82	139	11.62	159
Russian Federation	40.3	52	72.7	155	1.6	185	9.22	196
Aruba	39.9	53	78.3	79	1.82	139	11.69	158
Montenegro	39.6	54	78.0	86	1.81	141	11.04	165
Barbados	39.5	55	78.8	69	1.7	167	10.73	175
Luxembourg	39.5	55	83.2	15	1.63	177	11.59	160
Norway	39.5	55	82.8	23	1.83	138	11.89	156
North Macedonia	39.0	58	77.1	98	1.52	199	10.33	180
Thailand	39.0	58	77.9	87	1.54	196	10.04	185
Georgia	38.6	60	77.7	89	1.75	151	10.79	172
United States of America	38.5	61	80.8	48	1.84	136	12.21	149
China	38.4	62	78.2	82	1.45	211	9.69	190
United Arab Emirates	38.4	62	79.8	60	1.62	181	10.76	173
Cook Islands	38.3	64	77.4	94	2.04	98	12.34	145
Cyprus	37.9	65	80.0	55	1.48	206	10.37	179
Ireland	37.8	66	81.9	36	1.91	119	12.08	152
Trinidad and Tobago	37.8	66	76.2	112	1.63	177	10.62	177
Moldova	37.7	68	72.7	155	1.59	187	9.94	187
Australia	37.5	69	83.3	14	1.73	159	12.23	148
Jersey	37.5	69	82.8	17	1.66	173	12.31	146
British Virgin Islands	37.2	71	79.9	57	1.37	216	10.9	168
Faroe Islands	37.2	71	81.5	42	2.28	77	14.94	114
New Zealand	37.2	71	82.7	24	1.86	133	12.69	140
Iceland	37.1	74	83.8	7	1.95	114	12.8	139
Saint Lucia	36.9	75	79.2	65	1.72	161	11.73	157
Seychelles	36.8	76	76.4	109	1.81	141	12.1	150
Curacao	36.7	77	79.7	62	1.97	110	13.07	137
Armenia	36.6	78	76.4	106	1.65	175	10.8	170
Saint Kitts and Nevis	36.5	79	77.3	95	1.76	150	12.06	153
Mauritius	36.3	80	75.1	130	1.35	218	9.82	188
Anguilla	35.7	81	82.4	26	1.72	161	11.9	155
Singapore	35.6	82	86.5	2	1.17	225	8.94	199
Chile	35.5	83	80.0	54	1.75	151	12.57	142
Gibraltar	35.5	83	80.7	50	1.9	122	13.84	128
Uruguay	35.5	83	78.7	70	1.75	151	12.65	141
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	35.3	86	76.9	101	1.74	155	12.09	151
Dominica	34.9	87	78.5	76	2.01	104	13.64	130
Montserrat	34.8	88	75.9	119	1.32	219	10.66	176
D. P. R. of Korea	34.6	89	71.9	165	1.89	125	14.06	120
Turks and Caicos Islands	34.6	89	81.0	44	1.7	167	13.24	134
Albania	34.3	91	79.7	61	1.55	194	12.48	143
Greenland (Den.)	34.3	91	74.3	143	1.9	122	13.66	129
Wallis and Futuna	34.0	93	80.9	45	1.71	164	12.05	154
Palau	33.9	94	74.9	135	1.7	167	11.57	161
Lebanon	33.7	95	79.0	67	1.71	164	12.86	138
Qatar	33.7	95	80.0	53	1.9	122	9.27	195
Sri Lanka	33.7	95	78.2	81	1.97	110	13.61	131
French Polynesia	33.3	98	78.7	70	1.8	143	13.22	135
Grenada	33.3	98	76.0	117	1.92	117	13.61	131
Saint Martin	33.3	98	80.8	46	1.8	143	13.95	125
Brazil	33.2	101	76.1	114	1.75	151	13.44	133
Bahrain	32.9	102	80.1	52	1.66	173	12.3	147
New Caledonia	32.9	102	79.1	66	1.84	136	13.96	124
Northern Mariana Islands	32.8	104	76.8	103	2.59	62	15.6	104
The Bahamas	32.8	104	76.4	107	1.97	110	14.49	118
Antigua and Barbuda	32.7	106	78.0	85	1.94	115	15.01	113
Tunisia	32.7	106	77.1	99	1.96	113	14.05	121
Azerbaijan	32.6	108	74.4	142	1.86	133	13.2	136
Costa Rica	32.6	108	79.9	58	1.86	133	14.03	123
Argentina	32.4	110	78.6	74	2.17	88	15.38	105
Turkey	32.2	111	76.5	105	1.91	119	14.04	122
Vietnam	31.9	112	75.8	121	2.04	98	15.29	108
Islamic Republic of Iran	31.7	113	75.4	127	1.92	117	14.79	116
Kazakhstan	31.6	114	72.8	154	2.08	93	14.92	115
Colombia	31.2	115	74.9	136	1.94	115	15.06	111
Brunei Darussalam	31.1	116	78.6	72	1.74	155	15.98	101
Indonesia	31.1	116	73.3	150	1.99	106	15.05	112
Suriname	31.0	118	72.6	160	1.91	119	15.17	110
Saudi Arabia	30.8	119	76.9	102	1.89	125	13.9	127
Kosovo	30.5	120	72.2	162	1.88	129	14.57	117
Israel	30.4	121	83.5	10	2.54	67	17.3	87
Panama	30.1	122	78.4	77	2.37	73	17.71	82
Uzbekistan	30.1	122	75.6	125	1.72	161	15.18	109
R. B. de Venezuela	30.0	124	74.3	143	2.2	83	16.99	91
Fiji	29.9	125	74.5	140	2.23	80	16.25	96
Mongolia	29.8	126	71.7	167	1.89	125	15.37	106
Kuwait	29.7	127	79.4	64	2.22	81	17.65	83
Paraguay	29.7	127	78.6	72	1.88	129	16.15	99
Maldives	29.5	129	77.2	96	1.7	167	15.33	107
Guam	29.4	130	77.7	89	2.76	55	18.33	75
Jamaica	29.4	130	76.0	116	2.05	97	15.77	102
Mexico	29.3	132	73.5	148	1.73	159	13.95	125
Malaysia	29.2	133	76.4	107	1.74	155	14.39	119
Myanmar	29.2	133	70.2	172	2	105	16.04	100
Turkmenistan	29.2	133	72.1	164	2.03	101	17.16	89
Bhutan	29.1	136	73.0	152	1.77	146	15.61	103
Morocco	29.1	136	74.0	146	2.27	78	17.1	90
Peru	29.1	136	68.9	181	2.18	86	16.96	92
Algeria	28.9	139	78.3	78	2.47	68	17.84	80
Ecuador	28.8	140	78.3	79	2.02	102	16.19	97
India	28.7	141	67.7	191	2.07	95	16.53	94
South Africa	28.0	142	65.6	203	2.17	88	18.24	76
Bangladesh	27.9	143	75.0	133	2.08	93	17.5	85
Dominican Republic	27.9	143	72.8	153	2.2	83	17.8	81
El Salvador	27.7	145	75.6	123	2.04	98	17.49	86
Guyana	27.5	146	72.2	162	2.06	96	16.74	93
Kyrgyz Republic	27.3	147	72.6	159	2.47	68	19.08	72
Nicaragua	27.3	147	75.1	132	1.78	145	16.3	95
American Samoa	27.2	149	75.6	124	2.13	90	16.18	98
Nauru	27.0	150	68.3	186	2.58	65	20.71	65
Cape Verde	26.8	151	74.0	145	2.11	92	18.19	77
Tuvalu	26.6	152	68.7	182	2.81	53	22.34	52
Cambodia	26.4	153	71.0	168	2.2	83	18.75	74
Federated States of Micronesia	26.3	154	74.7	138	2.22	81	18.12	78
Oman	26.2	155	77.2	97	2.67	61	21.62	59
Libya	25.8	156	77.4	93	3.04	46	20.88	63
Botswana	25.7	157	66.0	200	2.37	73	19.95	70
Kiribati	25.7	157	68.2	187	2.18	86	19.92	71
Samoa	25.6	159	75.5	126	2.37	73	19.03	73
Bolivia	25.3	160	72.5	161	2.26	79	18.08	79
Nepal	25.3	160	72.7	158	1.88	129	17.26	88
Tajikistan	25.3	160	69.7	179	2.42	70	20.28	68
Djibouti	24.9	163	65.6	202	2.13	90	22.03	57
Lesotho	24.7	164	59.9	220	2.88	51	23.01	49
Honduras	24.4	165	75.4	128	1.98	107	17.64	84
Arab Republic of Egypt	24.1	166	74.7	137	2.76	55	20.48	66
Haiti	24.1	166	66.3	198	2.39	72	20.81	64
Philippines	24.1	166	70.5	169	2.77	54	22.17	55
Tonga	24.1	166	77.8	88	2.7	59	20.02	69
Lao People’s Democratic Republic	24.0	170	68.6	183	2.3	76	20.35	67
Papua New Guinea	24.0	170	69.7	177	3.85	30	28.54	31
Belize	23.9	172	76.1	115	2.59	62	20.93	62
Marshall Islands	23.8	173	74.9	134	2.72	58	21.61	60
Eswatini	23.7	174	60.2	219	2.41	71	22.83	50
Jordan	23.5	175	76.3	111	2.91	48	22.37	51
Solomon Islands	23.5	175	77.0	100	2.82	52	22.34	52
Syrian Arab Republic	23.5	175	74.6	139	2.74	57	22.19	54
Guatemala	23.2	178	73.2	151	2.57	66	21.88	58
Vanuatu	23.0	179	75.4	129	2.59	62	21.19	61
Pakistan	22.0	180	70.0	176	3.39	39	26.01	41
West Bank	21.9	181	76.6	104	2.91	48	24.02	48
Namibia	21.8	182	67.0	196	2.94	47	24.68	45
The Gambia	21.8	182	68.0	188	3.66	32	28.03	34
Ghana	21.4	184	69.7	178	3.61	33	28.04	33
Iraq	21.2	185	73.5	149	3.17	45	24.22	46
Gabon	21.0	186	70.0	175	3.26	42	25.89	43
Mauritania	21.0	186	65.6	204	3.46	37	27.61	36
Comoros	20.9	188	67.5	192	2.69	60	22.06	56
Zimbabwe	20.5	189	63.8	209	3.88	29	32.77	21
Côte d’Ivoire	20.3	190	62.7	212	3.47	36	27.92	35
Equatorial Guinea	20.3	190	63.8	208	4.19	22	29.46	30
Eritrea	20.3	190	67.2	195	3.5	35	26.72	40
Madagascar	20.3	190	68.5	185	3.55	34	28.14	32
Central African Republic	20.0	194	56.0	226	3.99	27	32.37	23
Kenya	20.0	194	70.0	174	3.23	43	26.01	41
Togo	20.0	194	71.7	166	4.18	23	31.39	26
Ethiopia	19.8	197	68.6	183	3.92	28	29.97	29
Republic of Yemen	19.8	197	67.8	189	2.91	48	24.05	47
Rwanda	19.7	199	66.2	199	3.23	43	25.7	44
Timor-Leste	19.6	200	70.2	172	4.09	26	30.36	28
Afghanistan	19.5	201	54.1	227	4.53	17	34.79	16
Congo	19.5	201	62.5	214	4.32	21	31.55	24
Senegal	19.4	203	70.3	171	4.17	24	30.84	27
São Tomé and Príncipe	19.3	204	67.4	194	3.44	38	27.43	37
Guinea	19.1	205	64.3	205	4.82	11	35.47	13
Sierra Leone	19.1	205	59.1	223	3.71	31	31.49	25
Nigeria	18.6	207	61.8	217	4.57	15	34	18
South Sudan	18.6	207	59.7	221	5.2	9	37.07	9
Cameroon	18.5	209	63.7	210	4.5	18	35.13	14
Somalia	18.5	209	56.1	225	5.22	8	37.71	8
Sudan	18.3	211	67.5	193	4.54	16	33.32	19
Tanzania	18.2	212	70.5	169	4.33	20	32.9	20
Guinea-Bissau	18.0	213	64.1	206	4.65	14	36.25	12
Liberia	18.0	213	65.8	201	4.73	13	36.26	11
West Bank and Gaza	18.0	213	75.7	122	3.34	40	27.2	39
Burkina Faso	17.9	216	63.8	207	4.14	25	32.71	22
Burundi	17.7	217	67.8	190	4.96	10	34.87	15
Benin	17.0	218	62.6	213	5.39	5	40.72	3
Mozambique	17.0	218	57.7	224	4.74	12	36.94	10
Zambia	16.9	220	66.6	197	4.49	19	34.48	17
Malawi	16.8	221	72.7	157	3.3	41	27.29	38
Democratic Republic of Congo	16.7	222	62.2	216	5.56	3	39.64	7
Chad	16.1	223	59.6	222	5.35	6	39.85	6
Mali	16.0	224	62.8	211	5.45	4	40.54	4
Angola	15.9	225	62.5	214	5.76	2	41.42	2
Uganda	15.7	226	69.3	180	5.26	7	40.27	5
Niger	14.8	227	60.5	218	6.73	1	46.86	1

Global Life Expectancy

Monaco tops the list with a life expectancy of 89.6 years.
Other nations with life expectancies exceeding 84 years include Singapore (86.5 years), Macau (85.2 years), Japan (85.0 years), San Marino (84.1 years), and Canada (84.0 years).
The life expectancy in the United States is 80.8 years, ranking it 48th globally.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, has the world’s shortest life expectancy at 54.1 years.
Seven other nations have life expectancies under 60 years, include the Central African Republic, Somalia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Chad, South Sudan, and Lesotho.

Fertility Rates Around the World

African nations typically have higher fertility rates.

Niger leads with a fertility rate of 6.73, indicating a woman in Niger, on average, will have 6.73 children in her lifetime.
Eight countries have fertility rates above 5, including Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Benin, Chad, Uganda, Somalia, and South Sudan.

Some regions in South East Asia record the lowest fertility rates:

Taiwan has the lowest at 1.09.
Other nations and regions with fertility rates under 1.3 include South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Italy, Puerto Rico, and Spain.
It’s noteworthy that four of the eight locations with the lowest fertility rates belong to the “Greater China” region (Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macau). China itself has a fertility rate of 1.45, ranking 211th globally.
The U.S. fertility rate is 1.84, placing it 138th in the world.

For most industrialized nations, the fertility rate needed to maintain a stable population is roughly 2.1 children per woman over her lifetime.

This number accounts for the fact that not all children will reach reproductive age, and slightly more boys are born than girls, but not all of these boys will survive and reproduce. If the fertility rate falls below 2.1, the population will eventually decline.

4 references

[1]. CIA. The World Factbook. Country Comparisons – Life expectancy at birth.

[2]. CIA. The World Factbook. Country Comparisons – Median age.

[3]. CIA. The World Factbook. Country Comparisons – Total fertility rate.

[4]. CIA. The World Factbook. Country Comparisons – Birth rate.

Derek Yang

I'm an immigrant living with my family in a small town on the East Coast. I love classical music, enjoy a good cup of coffee, and have a soft spot for BMWs. I believe in lifelong learning and look forward to connecting with you to share our life experiences. Twitter @mrderekyang.

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