“In recent decades, the share of the population aged 65 years or older has nearly doubled on average across OECD countries. The proportion of the population aged 65 years or over increased from less than 9% in 1960 to more than 17% in 2017. Declining fertility rates and longer life expectancies (see indicator on “Life expectancy” in Chapter 3) have meant that older people make up an increasing proportion of the population in OECD countries.
“Across OECD countries on average, the share of the population aged 65 and over is projected to continue increasing in the coming decades, rising from 17.4% in 2017 to 27.1% by 2050 (Figure 11.1). In five OECD countries (Italy, Portugal, Greece, Japan, and Korea), the share of the population aged 65 and over will exceed one-third by 2050. At the other end of the spectrum, the population aged 65 and over in Israel, Mexico and Australia will represent less than 20% of the population in 2050, due to higher fertility and migration rates.
“While the rise in the population aged 65 and over has been striking across OECD countries, the increase has been particularly rapid among the oldest – people 80 years of age and older. Between 2017 and 2050, the share of the population 80 and above will more than double on average in OECD countries, from 4.6% to 10.1%. At least one in ten people will be 80 or older in nearly half (17) of OECD countries by 2050, while in six countries (Lithuania, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Korea and Japan), more than one in eight people will be 80 or older.”
Source: OECD (2019), Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4dd50c09-en.
“All OECD countries have experienced tremendous gains in life expectancy at age 65 for both men and women in recent decades. On average across OECD countries, life expectancy at age 65 increased by 5.5 years between 1970 and 2017 (Figure 11.3). Four countries (Australia, Finland, Korea, and Japan) enjoyed gains of more than seven years over the period; only one country (Lithuania) experienced an increase in life expectancy at age 65 of less than two years between 1970 and 2017.
“On average across OECD countries, people at age 65 could expect to live a further 19.7 years. Life expectancy at age 65 is more than 2.5 years higher for women than for men of the same age. This gender gap has not changed substantially since 1970, when life expectancy at age 65 was 2.9 years longer for women than men. Life expectancy at age 65 was highest for women in Japan (24.4 years) and for men in Switzerland (20 years). Among OECD countries, life expectancy at age 65 in 2017 was lowest for women in Hungary (18.4 years), and for men in Latvia (14.1 years).
“While all OECD countries experienced gains in life expectancy at age 65 between 1970 and 2017, not all additional years are lived in good health. The number of healthy life years at age 65 varies substantially across OECD
countries (Figure 11.4). In Europe, an indicator of disability-free life expectancy known as “healthy life years” is calculated regularly, based on a general question about disability in the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey. On average across OECD countries participating in the survey, the number of healthy life years at age 65 was 9.6 for women and 9.4 for men – a markedly smaller difference than that of general life expectancy at age 65 between men and women. Healthy life expectancy at age 65 was above 15 years for both men and women in Norway, Sweden and Iceland; for men, this was nearly three years above the next-best performing countries (Ireland and Spain). Healthy life expectancy at 65 was less than five years for both men and women in the Slovak Republic and Latvia. In the Slovak Republic and Latvia, women spend nearly 80% of additional life years in poor health, compared with less than 30% in Norway, Sweden and Iceland.”
Source: OECD (2019), Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4dd50c09-en.
“Dementia describes a variety of brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, which progressively lead to brain damage and cause a gradual deterioration of a person’s functional capacity and social relations. Despite billions of dollars spent on research into dementia-related disorders, there is still no cure or even substantially disease-modifying treatment for dementia.
“Nearly 20 million people in OECD countries are estimated to have dementia in 2019. If current trends continue, this number will more than double by 2050, reaching nearly 41 million people across OECD countries. Age remains the greatest risk factor for dementia: across the 36 OECD countries, average dementia prevalence rises from 2.3% among people aged 65-69 to nearly 42% among people aged 90 or older. This means that as countries age, the number of people living with dementia will also increase – particularly as the proportion of the population over 80 rises. Already, countries with some of the oldest populations in the OECD – including Japan, Italy, and Germany – also have the highest prevalence of dementia. Across OECD countries on average, 15 people per 1,000 population are estimated to have dementia (Figure 11.9). In seven countries, more than 20 people per 1,000 population are living with a dementia disorder. By 2050, all but three OECD countries (Slovak Republic, Israel and Hungary) will have a dementia prevalence of more than 20 people per 1,000 population, while in four countries (Japan, Italy, Portugal and Spain), more than one in 25 people will be living with dementia.”
Source: OECD (2019), Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4dd50c09-en.
“As populations across OECD countries continue to age, an increasing number of people will require support from longterm care (LTC) services, including nursing homes and LTC living facilities (see indicator on “Recipients of long-term care”). Providing safe care for these patients is a key challenge for OECD health systems, as residents of LTC facilities are more frail and sicker, and present a number of other risk factors for the development of patient safety events, including healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and pressure ulcers (OECD/European Commission, 2013[1]).
“HAIs can lead to significant increases in patient morbidity, mortality and cost for the health system. In the acute care sector, HAIs alone are estimated to make up 3-6% of hospital budgets (Slawomirski et al., 2017[2]). These infections are also generally considered to be preventable through standard prevention and hygiene measures. The most commonly occurring HAIs in LTC facilities include urinary tract infections, lower respiratory tract infections, skin and soft tissue infections (Suetens et al., 2018[3]).
“In 2016-17, the average prevalence of HAIs among LTC facility residents in OECD countries was 3.8% (Figure 11.14). This proportion was lowest in Lithuania, Hungary, Sweden, Germany, and Luxembourg (less than 2%), and highest in Denmark, Portugal, Greece and Spain (over 5%).
“The impact of HAIs is increased by the rise of antibioticresistant bacteria, which can lead to infections that are difficult or even impossible to treat. Figure 11.15 shows the proportions of bacteria isolated from LTC residents that are resistant to antibiotics. On average, over one quarter of isolates were resistant to antibiotics. This is nearly equivalent to levels seen in acute care hospitals, where antibiotic resistance is considered a major threat.”
Source: OECD (2019), Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4dd50c09-en.
“For any given country, there is also substantial variation across the specific domains, which highlights areas for improvement. For instance, while the United States and The Netherlands both scored 60 in the composite index, they varied in their performance across individual domains. The United States scores high on productivity and engagement and cohesion, average on well-being, and low on equity and security. Having the highest productivity and engagement domain score of 83 reflects that older Americans retire later and volunteer more than people in many European countries. On the other hand, The Netherlands scores high on equity, security, and well-being but low on productivity and engagement and cohesion.
“Japan is the highest ranked in well-being and is the world leader in healthy life expectancy, with men and women expected to live another 16.7 y of relatively good health, on average, at the age of 65 y. In comparison, the United States ranks ninth in well-being. The United States ranks 16th out of 18 countries in the equity domain, and this finding is consistent with current research on gaps in health that are related to large socioeconomic differences across individuals in the United States. The Nordic countries rank the highest in the equity domain.
“Social cohesion, neighborhood support, and financial transfers and housing support between generations of family members are resources that may act as a buffer against adverse shocks. The United States ranks fourth among all countries in the cohesion domain. Ireland, the United Kingdom, Finland, and Spain also rank in the top five of all countries.
“The United States (ranked 12th) is in the bottom half of all countries in the security domain, with Spain, The Netherlands, and Italy at the top. Income, pension wealth, public expenditure on long-term care, government debt, and physical safety were measured. In Western Europe, people aged 65 y and older are physically and financially more secure than in the United States.”
Source: Cynthia Chen, Dana P. Goldman, Julie Zissimopoulos, John W. Rowe, and Research Network on an Aging Society. Multidimensional comparison of countries’ adaptation to societal aging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sep 2018, 115 (37) 9169-9174; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1806260115.
Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and several other nations.
Page last updated April 14, 2021 by Doug McVay, Editor.