Septem
mber 2014
N
No. 2014/5
Living
g to old
d age:: A new
w worlld norm
m
1. O
Old-age de
eaths acco
ounted forr half of all
a
deaths worldw
wide in 2005-2010,
2
marking a
significant
of
soc
milestone
m
cioeconomiic
deve
elopment.
Everryone aspirres to live to old ag
ge but unttil
rece
ently fewer than half of all people
e born in th
he
world survived to their 65th birthday. However, th
he
mostt recent revision of World Populatio
on Prospects1
revea
als that the
e world rece
ently passed
d a significant
milesstone: due to
o improveme
ents in life-ex
xpectancy over
the last fifty yearrs, the perce
entage of dea
aths occurrin
ng
d-age, define
ed as the nu
umber of dea
aths at age 65
6
in old
and o
older per 100
0 total deaths at all ages, increased 28
2
perce
entage pointts: from 22 per cent in 1950-1955 to
fifty p
per cent in 20
005-2010 wo
orldwide.
2. Th
he increase in the percentage
p
e of old-ag
ge
deaths reflects significantt progress in
n both morre
and less develo
oped regions
Figgure 1. Increasse of the perce
entage of old‐aage death by devvelopment group, 1950‐2010
0 The b
biggest incrrease in the
e percentage
e of old-age
e
death
hs occurred in the less developed rregions, and
d
the s
smallest in
n the leastt developed
d countries
s
(Figurre 1).
Ne
evertheless all regions experienced
d
signifi cant increasses, and th
he largest a
and smalles
st
increa
ases were a
about 30 and 10 percen
ntage points
s,
respe ctively.
3. Wo
orldwide th
he increase
e in the perrcentage of
o
old-a
age deaths was due m
mainly to the reduction
n
of ch ild-age dea
aths.
Dividiing ages intto child-age (0-4 years),, mid-age (5
564), a
and old-age (65+), it sho
ows that the
e percentage
e
of m
mid-age dea
aths change
ed only 2 percentage
e
points
s: from 38 p
per cent in 1
1950-1955 to
o 36 per cent
in 200
05-2010 (Fig
gure 2). In otther words, a
among the 28
8
perce ntage point increase in F
Figure 1, 26 w
was attributed
d
e decline of cchild-age de
eaths. The m
main cause of
o
to the
child-a
age death is commu
unicable disseases; and
d
reduc ing child mortality is the ffourth target of the United
d
Nation
ns Millennium
m Developme
ent Goals. Figuree 2. Percentagge of deaths att child‐age (0‐4
4), mid‐age (5‐
64) an
nd old‐age (65++) of the world
d 100%
%
90%
%
80%
%
70%
%
60%
%
65+
5‐‐64
0‐‐4
50%
%
40%
%
30%
%
20%
%
10%
%
Septe
ember 2014
POPFACTTS, No. 2014/5
5
2008
2003
1998
1993
1988
1983
1978
1973
1968
1963
1958
1953
0%
%
1
4. TThe main reason off the incre
ease in th
he
perc
centage of
o old-age deaths, for
f
the lesss
deve
eloped reg
gions (LDR),, was also the declin
ne
of c
child-age deaths,
d
whiich is simila
ar to that of
o
the world. But the main re
eason was different fo
or
the least deve
eloped countries (LD
DC) and th
he
more develope
ed regions (MDR) (Figu
ure 3).
FFigure 3. Perce
entage of deaths of the leastt developed co
ountries (LDC),, less develope
ed regions (LDR
R), and more developed reg
d
gions (MDR) For the more developed
d regions (MDR), the
e
entage of m
mid-age deaths declin
ned notably
y:
perce
from 34 per cen
nt in 1950-1
1955 to 25 per cent in
n
e
2005--2010. The main cause of the deccrease of the
hs was the reduction of
o
perce ntage of miid-age death
e diseases. M
Moreover, the percentage
e
non-c ommunicable
hs reached tthe level of lower than 1
of chi ld-age death
ent in 2005-2
2010.
per ce
5. Altthough the percentage
e of old-ag
ge deaths
reach
hed 50 per cent in 200
05-2010 worrldwide, it
differs
rs remarkab
bly between
n countriess (Figure 4).
In 20
005-2010, th
he three cou
untries with the highes
st
perce ntages were
e Italy (86%
%), Sweden (86%), and
d
hile the three
e nations with the lowes
st
Greecce (85%); wh
perce ntages were
e the Democratic Rep
public of the
e
o (13%), Cha
ad (12%), an
nd Angola (11
1%).
Congo
100
0%
90
0%
80
0%
70
0%
60
0%
50
0%
65++
40
0%
5‐‐6
64
30
0%
0‐‐4
4
20
0%
10
0%
0
0%
For the least developed
d countries (LDC), th
he
centage of mid-age deaths increa
ased notably
y:
perc
from
m 34 per ce
ent in 1950--1955 to 40
0 per cent in
2005
5-2010. The main cause
e of the incrrease was th
he
preva
alence of HIV
V/AIDS.
6. Altthough old--age death
hs reached half of all
death
hs worldwid
de, their esttimates are
e less
accu
urate than th
he estimate
es of deathss at other
ages .
More specifically
y, reliable o
old-age dea
ath rates are
e
ally availablle only for m
more develo
oped nations
s
annua
and s
some develo
oping counttries with ac
ccurate vita
al
registtration and
d census. For some
e developing
g
countrries, old-age
e death rates may be obtained in
n
scatte
ered years when re
eliable censsuses were
e
condu
ucted. For th
he rest of th
he world, on
nly infant and
d
child d
death rates, and sometim
mes adult de
eath rates as
s
well, ccould be estiimated from sample survveys; and oldage d
death rates are then in
nferred using model life
e
tabless.
____________________
1
NOTES
Source
e of data: Unite
ed Nations (201
13). World Popu
ulation Prospectts
2012 re
evision (available
e from www.unpo
opulation.org).
Figure 4. Perrcentage of old
d‐age deaths b
by country, 20005‐2010 Note: TThe boundaries on
n this map do not iimply official endo
orsement or accepttance by the Uniteed Nations. 2
POPFACTS
S, No. 2014/5
Septem
mber 2014