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A look at the lives of the elderly in the EU today

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What is the share of the elderly (65 or over) among the total population?

In 2016, 19.2% of the EU population was aged 65 or over.

The share of the elderly in the population differs considerably between Member States. In 2016, the highest share was recorded in Italy (22.0%) and the lowest in Ireland (13.2%).

Since 1976, the share of the elderly in the population has increased in all Member States.

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Further information

Article on “Statistics on an ageing society

Article on “Population structure and ageing

Statistics on “Age equality

European Commission: Ageing and welfare state policies

Directorate-General “Research and Innovation”: Population ageing in Europe

European Innovation Partnership: Active and Healthy Ageing through Europe

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EU-28 19.2 %

How many more years can men and women at the age of 65 expect to live?

In 2015, women at the age of 65 in the EU could expect to live 21.2 more years and men 17.9 years.

The highest life expectany for women as well as for men at the age of 65 was recorded in France (women: 23.5 years, men: 19.4 years) and Spain (women: 23.0 years, men: 19.0 years).

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Further information

Article on “Mortality and life expectancy statistics

Article on “Statistics on an ageing society

Statistics on “Life expectancy

Directorate-General “Public Health”: State of health in the EU

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EU-28 21.2 17.9

How many healthy life years can men and women expect to live at the age of 65?

In 2015, both women and men at the age of 65 in the EU can expect to live 9.4 more healthy life years.

The highest numbers of healthy life years at the age of 65 were recorded in Sweden (women: 16.8 years, men: 15.7 years), Malta (women: 14.0 years, men: 13.4 years) and Germany (women: 12.3 years, men: 11.4 years).

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Further information

Article on “Statistics on an ageing society

Article on “Healthy live years

Dedicated section on “Health status

Directorate-General “Public Health”: Healthy life years

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EU-28 9.4 9.4

What is the share of the elderly who live alone?

In 2015, 32.1% of the population aged 65 or over in the EU were living alone, compared with 14.4% of the total population.

Among the elderly, the share of the population living alone ranged from 45.9% in Lithuania and 39.8% in both Denmark and Estonia to 17.6% in Cyprus and 23.9% in Greece.

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Further information

Article on “Statistics on an ageing society

Statistics on “Income and living conditions

Directorate-General “Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion”: Why older women are much more exposed to the risk of poverty than older men

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EU-28 32.1 %

What is the share of the elderly aged 65 to 74 years who are economically active?

In 2016, 9.5% of the population aged 65 to 74 were economically active (employed or unemployed) in the EU, compared with 77.5% of the population aged 20 to 64.

The highest shares of those aged 65-74 still economically active were recorded in Estonia (26.0%) and the United Kingdom (16.8%) and the lowest in Luxembourg (2.7%) as well as Belgium and Spain (both 3.6%).

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Further information

Article on “Statistics on an ageing society

Statistics on the labour market

Statistics on “Age equality / Labour market

Directorate-General “Employment, Social affairs and Inclusion”: Information on active ageing

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EU-28 9.5 %

What is the share of the elderly who travel?

In 2015, 48.8% of the EU population aged 65 and over travelled (meaning they made at least one trip including at least one overnight stay), compared with 61.0% of the population aged 15 or over.

The highest shares of elderly tourists among the elderly population were observed in Denmark (83.7%), Sweden (80.4%) and the Netherlands (72.1%), and the lowest in Bulgaria (11.0%), Romania (13.5%) and Croatia (19.1%).

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Further information

Article on “Statistics on an ageing society

Article on “Tourism statistics - participation in tourism

Statistics on “Tourism

Directorate-General “Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs”: Tourism

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EU-28 48.8 %

What is the share of the elderly who use the internet at least once a week?

Elderly people are less often online than younger generations. However, in 2016, 45% of those aged 65 to 74 used the internet at least once a week, compared with 82% of the population aged 25 to 64.

This share has more than tripled since 2007, when only 13% of the elderly population used the internet at least once a week, compared with 52% of the population aged 25 to 64.

In 2016, the highest shares of persons aged 65 to 74 using the internet at least once a week were observed in Luxembourg (88%), Denmark (81%) and Sweden(80%) and the lowest in Bulgaria (12%), Romania (13%) and Greece (14%).

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Further information

Article on “Statistics on an ageing society

Article on “Internet access and use statistics – households and individuals

Dedicated section on “Digital inclusion

Statistics on “Age equality / Information society

Directorate-General “Digital Agenda for Europe”: Research and innovation for ageing well with ICT

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EU-28 45 %

“A look at the lives of the elderly in the EU today” is a web tool released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Originally, it is based on the chapter "An ageing society — focus on the elderly" of the flagship publication “People in the EU: who are we and how do we live?”, published on 27 November 2015. Data used in this tool were updated in September 2017.

In addition, an interactive infographic – “You in the EU” - is available which allows a comparison of some aspects of the way of life of elderly people in the EU for different age groups, such as those aged 65-69, 70-74 and 75 or older.

Information on data:

All data come from Eurostat.

Data differ from those presented in the flagship publication due to the update of the tool in September 2017.

Date of data extraction: 14.09.2017.

Footnotes:

n.a. = not available

Contact:

If you have questions on the data, please contact the Eurostat User Support.

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