Population statistics usually refer to the population aged 60 or 65 years and above as 'old'
Representative photo from iStock India will age rapidly in the coming decades. By 2050, the share of the elderly in India’s total population can reach more than 20 per cent, according to the India Ageing Report 2023 released on September 27, 2023 by the International Institute for Population Sciences and the United Nations Population Fund.
The number of elderly will also be higher in proportion to the number of children aged 0-14 years. The number of working age people in the age group of 15-59 years will decrease. Also, women will live longer than men, due to which the number of older women will be more than older men. A large number of them will be rural women.
Population statistics usually refer to the population aged 60 or 65 years and above as ‘old’.
The percentage of the elderly in India has been increasing rapidly in recent years and this trend is likely to continue in the coming decades as well, according to the India Ageing Report 2023.
It noted that the decadal increase in India’s elderly population since 1961 was medium to high. This pace was slow until 2001 but is expected to spike in the coming decades:
As of July 1, 2022, the number of people above 60 years of age, that is, the elderly, in India was 149 million, which was 10.5 per cent of India’s population. By 2050, 20.8 per cent or 347 million Indians will be senior citizens. This number will reach over 36 per cent by century-end.
The report said the global population has been increasing even as people are living longer. Increasing life expectancy and declining fertility have had an impact on all countries of the world, due to which both the share and number of older persons will increase worldwide in the coming years.
In 1991, there were 930 elderly women per 1,000 men, according to the report. After this, the ratio started to change and will continue to do so. The report estimates that by 2031, there will be 951 men for 1,078 women.
According to the report, in India, a man aged 60 years can live another 18.3 years, while women can live 19 years. Apart from this, it also depends on the different life expectancy of the states. In Kerala and Himachal Pradesh, women can be up to 4 years more than men.
The report has expressed concern that since the life expectancy of women in India will be longer than that of men, the number of widowed women will be considerable. For this, attention has to be paid to social and economic policies.
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