Portugal saw the median age of its population increase by 4.4 years in the decade from 2013 to 2023, the biggest increase of all EU member states, new data has shown.
Other countries to report a notable increase in the median age of their population include Greece, Spain, Slovakia and Italy, each of which saw the median age rise by 4.0 years, the Eurostat data found.
Bulgaria saw the median age of its population rise by 3.9 years, in Poland the median age was up 3.8 years, and in Ireland, it rose by 3.7 years.
Only two EU countries saw a decline in the median age of their populations decline – Malta, which reported a 0.4 year decline in median age, and Sweden, which saw a 0.1 year decline. The median age of the population in Germany was flat (0.0 years).
EU population age
According to Eurostat, as of January 2023, the median age of the EU population was 44.5 years, an increase of 2.3 years on 2013, when it stood at 42.2 years.
Across EU member states, the median age ranged between 38.4 years in Cyprus and 48.4 years in Italy. Türkiye reported the lowest median age in Europe as a whole, of 33.5 years.
As of the beginning of 2023, the EU’s old-age dependency ratio, calculated by comparing the number of elderly individuals (aged 65 years and over) to the number of people within the working age range (15-64 years), was 33.4%.
Portugal, Italy, and Finland reported the highest ratios at 38.0%, while Luxembourg, Ireland, and Cyprus had the lowest ratios at 21.5%, 23.2%, and 24.7% respectively.
Median age of population by European country (2023)
| Country | Median Age |
|---|---|
| Italy | 48.4 |
| Portugal | 47.0 |
| Bulgaria | 46.8 |
| Greece | 46.5 |
| Germany | 45.4 |
| Croatia | 45.4 |
| Spain | 45.3 |
| Liechtenstein | 45.0 |
| Serbia | 45.0 |
| Slovenia | 44.9 |
| European Union – 27 countries (from 2020) | 44.5 |
| Lithuania | 44.2 |
| Hungary | 44.2 |
| Latvia | 43.9 |
| Czechia | 43.7 |
| Romania | 43.6 |
| Austria | 43.5 |
| Finland | 43.5 |
| Switzerland | 42.8 |
| Poland | 42.6 |
| Netherlands | 42.5 |
| France | 42.4 |
| Estonia | 42.3 |
| Denmark | 42.2 |
| Slovakia | 42.2 |
| Belgium | 41.9 |
| Sweden | 40.8 |
| Norway | 40.5 |
| Moldova | 40.3 |
| Malta | 40.1 |
| Luxembourg | 39.7 |
| Ireland | 39.1 |
| Albania | 38.8 |
| Cyprus | 38.4 |
| Iceland | 36.7 |
| Türkiye | 33.5 |
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js🧑🦳EU’s old-age dependency ratio (number of elderly people compared with those of working age) was 33.4% on 1 January 2023.
— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) February 15, 2024
Highest in:
🇵🇹Portugal (38.0%)
🇮🇹Italy & 🇫🇮Finland (both 37.8%)
Lowest:
🇱🇺Luxembourg (21.5%)
🇮🇪Ireland (23.2%)
🇨🇾Cyprus (24.7%)
👉https://t.co/KCGNSPoFd7 pic.twitter.com/G7jUxGSn1t
