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Elderly population by region
In all OECD countries, populations aged 65 years and over have dramatically increased over the last 30 years, both in size and as a percentage of total population. As elderly people tend to be concentrated in few areas within each country, a small number of regions will have to face the social and economic challenges raised by ageing population.
Definition
The elderly population is the number of inhabitants of a given region aged 65 or older. The population can be either the average annual population or the population at a specific date during the year considered. The average population during a calendar year is generally calculated as the arithmetic mean of the population on 1 January of two consecutive years (it is also referred to as the mean population).
The geographic concentration index compares the population weight and the geographic weight over all regions in a given country and is constructed to account for both within and between-country differences in the size of all regions. The index lies between 0 (no concentration) and 100 (maximum concentration) in all countries and is suitable for international comparisons of geographic concentration.
Comparability
As for the other regional statistics, the comparability of elderly population is affected by differences in the definition of the region (see Regional population) and the different geography of rural and urban communities (see Regional GDP) both within and among countries.
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Overview About 35% of elderly people within the OECD live in only 10% of regions. This percentage is much higher in Australia, Canada and Iceland, where 10% of regions account for more than half of the elderly population of these countries. Elderly population tends to reside in predominantly urban regions; about 46% of the elderly population in the OECD lives in these types of regions. In the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States predominantly urban regions account for at least 54% of the total elderly population. In Norway, the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Austria, France and Poland, no less than 75% of the elderly population live in predominantly rural or intermediate regions (see Regional GDP). According to the geographic concentration index, Canada, Australia and Iceland are the countries with the highest concentration of elderly population. Mexico, Sweden and the United Kingdom have a significantly higher concentration of elderly population than the OECD average (38). In contrast, geographic concentration of elderly people appears much lower in the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Ireland. |
Source
- OECD (2007), OECD Regions at a Glance, OECD, Paris.
Further information
Analytical publications
- OECD (2001), OECD Territorial Outlook, 2001 Edition, OECD, Paris.
- OECD (2006), OECD Territorial Reviews, OECD, Paris.
- OECD (2006), Labour Force Statistics 1985-2005: 2006 Edition, OECD, Paris.
- Oliveira Martins J., F. Gonand, P. Antolin, C. de la Maisonneuve and K.-Y. Yoo (2005), The Impact of Ageing on Demand, Factor Markets and Growth, OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 420, OECD, Paris.
- Spiezia, V. (2003), "Measuring Regional Economies”, OECD Statistics Brief, No. 6, October, OECD, Paris, www.oecd.org/std/statisticsbrief.
Statistical publications
- OECD (2006), Labour Force Statistics 1985-2005: 2006 Edition, OECD, Paris.
Online databases
Percentage of elderly population by country
Share of national elderly population in the 10% of regions with the largest elderly population
Distribution of elderly population into urban, intermediate and rural regions
Index of geographic concentration of elderly population
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