(Finance) – On 1 January 2023, themedian age of the population of the European Union reached i 44.5 years. This means that half of the EU population was over 44.5 years old, while the other half was younger. The median age of the EU population has increased by 2.3 years compared to 2013, when it was 42.2 years, according to Eurostat, the EU statistics office.
Looking at individual countries, the median age varies between 38.4 years to Cyprus and 48.4 years in Italy. Between 2013 and 2023, the median age increased in all EU members, except Malta and Sweden, where it decreased (-0.4 and -0.1 years respectively), and in Germany, where the average age remained unchanged.
In five EU countries, the median age of the population is increased by 4 years or more. The median age in Portugal increased by 4.4 years, the highest value among EU countries. They follow Greece, Spain, Slovakia and Italyrecording an increase of 4.0 years.
L’elderly dependency index of the EU, defined as the ratio of the number of elderly people (aged 65 and over) to the number of people of working age (15-64 years), was 33.4% as of 1 January 2023 The indicator has increased by 5.7 percentage points (pp) since January 1, 2013, when it was at 27.7%.
The highest ratios were recorded in Portugal (38.0%), Italy And Finland (both 37.8%). The lowest ratios occurred in Luxembourg (21.5%), Ireland (23.2%) and Cyprus (24.7%).