Percentage of population aged over 65 edges up slightly in 2020

In 2020, some 20.6 per cent of the EU population was aged 65 years or over; 3 percentage points higher than the corresponding share from a decade earlier, Eurostat reported on Tuesday.

In Cyprus, 16.3 per cent were in this age group, up from 16.1 per cent in 2019 and 12.7 per cent in 2011.

The numbers show that despite the increase over the years Cyprus is still one of the EU countries with a comparatively low share of elderly persons.

Across the EU member states, the highest share of the elderly in the population in 2020 was observed in Italy (23.2 per cent), followed by Greece and Finland with 22.3 per cent each.

The lowest shares were recorded in Ireland, 14.4 per cent, and in Luxembourg (14.5 per cent).

At regional level, the highest shares of elderly people were found in Chemnitz (29.3 per cent) in Germany, followed by Liguria (28.7 per cent) in Italy and Epirus (27.3 per cent) in Greece.

The lowest shares were recorded in two overseas regions of France: Mayotte (2.7 per cent) and French Guiana (6.1 per cent), and the Spanish autonomous region of Melilla (11.1 per cent).