Population, Mid-Year 2019: 67,530,000
Projected Population Mid-Year 2030: 70,485,000
Percentage of Population Under Age 25 Years, Mid-Year 2019: 29%
Percentage of Population 65 Years Or Over, Mid-Year 2019: 19%

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects 2019: Data Booklet (ST/ESA/SER.A/424).

Percent of Adults Aged 65 Years and Over Reporting To Be In Good Or Very Good Health (2015): 52.9%
People With Dementia Per 1,000 Population (2017): 17.1
Projected Number of People With Dementia Per 1,000 Population in 2037: 24.5
Long-Term Care Workers Per 100 People Aged 65 And Over (2015): NA
Long-Term Care Beds In Institutions and Hospitals Per 1,000 Population Aged 65 And Over (2015): 47.6
Long-Term Care Expenditure (Health and Social Components) By Government and Compulsory Insurance Schemes, as a Share of GDP (%) (2015): 1.5%

Source: OECD (2017), Health at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris. dx.doi.org/10.1787/health_glance-2017-en

Formal Long-Term Care Workers At Home (FTE) (2017): NA
Formal Long-Term Care Workers In Institutions (FTE) (2017): NA
Long-Term Care Recipients In Institutions Other Than Hospitals (2017): NA
Long-Term Care Recipients At Home (2017): NA

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD.Stat. Last accessed April 22, 2022.

“Long-term care is a blend of health and social care, provided in a combination of residential/institutional care and care provided in the community. Some care is provided by the NHS, but a large part of it is provided by the private and voluntary sector. Financing is a mix of public and private funds. Long-term care is provided to: older people; people with physical disabilities, frailty and sensory impairment; people with learning disabilities; people with mental health problems; people who misuse substances; and other vulnerable people.

“Residential or nursing care is provided in homes specifically for that purpose. It is provided mostly by the private and voluntary sector, except for some residential care provided in homes run by local councils, and in Scotland there are still NHS continuing care beds (Steel & Cylus, 2012). “Supported” residents are those who receive financial support from local authorities to live in their residential or nursing care home (this is most residents). Unsupported residents either pay the full cost or have their costs covered by social security benefits or private means.

“With the exception of Northern Ireland, social care has been separated from health care since the creation of the NHS in 1948. There are user charges for social care whereas health care is provided free at the point of access. Historically, social and health care have not been well integrated. In 1998 the government suggested that health and social care should work together at three levels: strategic planning, service commissioning and service provision. The Health Act 1999 created a duty of cooperation between NHS bodies and local authorities, which made it easier for the NHS and local authorities to purchase or provide care jointly, such as by pooling resources, delegating functions and resources to one another, and acting as a single provider of services. Integration of care continued to be emphasized over the next decade, but achievements have been patchy and have varied across the United Kingdom.”

Source: Cylus J, Richardson E, Findley L, Longley M, O’Neill C, Steel D. United Kingdom: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(5): 1–125.

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 sixteen other nations.

Page last updated Sept. 22, 2022 by Doug McVay, Editor.