At the same time, in industrialized countries, the number of people over 60 years of age will more than double over the next half century, rising from 245 million in 2005 to almost 406 million in 2050. Globally, the number of people over 60 will triple by 2050, reaching 2 billion people.
According to the UN, in the coming years, the oldest people on the planet will be Europeans, and the youngest will be residents of Afghanistan, Congo, Angola, Burundi, Liberia, Niger, and Uganda.
According to Hania Zlotnik, director of the UN Population Division, the world is currently undergoing demographic changes caused by the transition from high mortality and fertility to low mortality and low fertility. This transition includes three stages.
The first begins with a decline in child mortality. This leads to an acceleration of population growth and an increase in the proportion of children, resulting in a younger population. The second stage is characterized by falling fertility and an increase in the number of adults and elderly people. In the third stage, as a result of a long-term decline in both fertility and mortality, only the proportion of elderly people increases. The third stage has already been reached by European countries and Japan.
Zlotnik noted that population decline over the next four decades will be observed in Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and most countries of the former USSR. In total, depopulation is expected in 46 states. Eastern European countries will retain the lowest life expectancy among industrialized countries – between 2005 and 2010, the average life expectancy in the region will be 68.6 years.
ITAR-TASS