UK Health System Overview
Health System Rankings
Health System Outcomes
Coverage and Consumer Costs
UK COVID-19 Policy
Health System Financing and Expenditures
Medical Personnel
Health System Physical Resources and Utilization
Long-Term Care
Medical Training
Pharmaceuticals
Political System
Economic System
Population Demographics
People With Disabilities
Aging
Social Determinants & Health Equity
Health System History and Challenges
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).
Share Of The Population Aged Over 65, 2019: 18.5%
Projected Share Of The Population Aged Over 65, 2050: 24.8%
Share Of The Population Aged Over 80, 2019: 5%
Projected Share Of The Population Aged Over 80, 2050: 9.4%
Adults Aged 65 And Over Rating Their Own Health As Fair, Poor, Or Very Poor, 2018 (%): 42.4%
Estimated Prevalence Of Dementia Per 1,000 Population, 2021: 17.6
Projected Prevalence Of Dementia Per 1,000 Population, 2050: 28.2
Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.
“The share of people aged 65 and over is steadily growing due to the rise in life expectancy in previous decades and the ageing of the large cohort aged 55–75 years (the ‘baby-boomer’ generation). In 2016, British people at age 65 could expect to live another 20 years, similar to 65-year-olds in the EU as a whole. Just over half of these years (10.8) will be lived without disability2 (Figure 4). There are no data covering the whole of the United Kingdom, but more than 40 % of people aged 65 years and over in England report having no chronic disease. Among those who do, more than 40 % reported having one chronic disease and more than 15 % stated that they had at least two. The rate of people with at least one chronic condition is slightly higher than the EU average. Most people in England are able to continue to live independently in old age, but around one in five people aged 65 and over reported some limitations in basic activities of daily living (ADL) such as dressing and eating. In addition, 34 % of English women aged 65 and over reported having symptoms of depression, compared to 23 % of men in this age group.”
Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2019), United Kingdom: Country Health Profile 2019, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.
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.
