This statistic shows the median age of the world population from 1950 to 2100. By 2100, the global median age is projected to be 41.9 years of age.

Monaco is the country with the highest median age in the world. The population has a median age of around 56 years, which is around six years more than in Japan and Saint Pierre and Miquelon – the other countries that make up the top three. Southern European countries make up a large part of the top 20, with Italy, Slovenia, Greece, San Marino, Andorra, and Croatia all making the list. Low infant mortality means higher life expectancy Monaco and Japan also have the lowest infant mortality rates in the world, which contributes to the calculation of a higher life expectancy because fewer people are dying in the first years of life. Indeed, many of the nations with a high median age also feature on the list of countries with the highest average life expectancy, such as San Marino, Japan, Italy, and Lichtenstein. Demographics of islands and small countries Many smaller countries and island nations have populations with a high median age, such as Guernsey and the Isle of Man, which are both island territories within the British Isles. An explanation for this could be that younger people leave to seek work or education opportunities, while others choose to relocate there for retirement.

This statistic presents the median age of the world population from 1990 to 2015 and a forecast until 2100, by fertility variant. In 2100, the median age of the world population is predicted to be 26 years old at a constant fertility variant.

According to 2023 estimations, Monaco's population had the highest median age of 56.2 years worldwide. Furthermore, the lowest listed countries are all from the African continent, with Niger recording a median age of nearly 15 years old.

This statistic depicts the median age of the global labor force from 1990 to 2025. In 2019, the median age of the global workforce was 38.9 years. In 2025, this figure is expected to increase to 39.6 years.

This statistic shows the leading countries with the highest projected median age in 2050. By 2050, the Republic of Korea is projected to have the population with the highest median age, at 56.5 years.

This statistic depicts the median age of the global labor force from 1990 to 2025, by gender. In 2019, the median age of the male labor force was 38.7 years, compared to that of the female labor force, which was 39.1 years. In 2025, these figures are expected to be 39.5 years and 39.8 years respectively.

In 2023, the median age of the population of the United States was 39.2 years. While this may seem quite young, the median age in 1960 was even younger, at 29.5 years. The aging population in the United States means that society is going to have to find a way to adapt to the larger numbers of older people. Everything from Social Security to employment to the age of retirement will have to change if the population is expected to age more while having fewer children. The world is getting older It’s not only the United States that is facing this particular demographic dilemma. In 1950, the global median age was 23.6 years. This number is projected to increase to 41.9 years by the year 2100. This means that not only the U.S., but the rest of the world will also have to find ways to adapt to the aging population.

In 2022, the state with the highest median age of its population was Maine at 45.1 years. Utah had the lowest median age at 32.1 years. View the distribution of the U.S. population by ethnicity here.

Additional information on the aging population in the United States

High birth rates during the so-called baby boom years that followed World War II followed by lower fertility and morality rates have left the United States with a serious challenge in the 21st Century. However, the issue of an aging population is certainly not an issue unique to the United States. The age distribution of the global population shows that other parts of the world face a similar issue.

Within the United States, the uneven distribution of populations aged 65 years and over among states offers both major challenges and potential solutions. On the one hand, federal action over the issue may be contentious as other states are set to harbor the costs of elderly care in states such as California and Florida. That said, domestic migration from comparably younger states may help to fill gaps in the workforce left by retirees in others.

Nonetheless, aging population issues are set to gain further prominence in the political and economic decisions made by policymakers regardless of the eventual distribution of America’s elderly. Analysis of the financial concerns of Americans by age shows many young people still decades from retirement hold strong concern over their eventual financial position.

Globally, about 25 percent of the population is under 15 years of age and 10 percent is over 65 years of age. Africa has the youngest population worldwide. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 40 percent of the population is below 15 years, and only three percent are above 65, indicating the low life expectancy in several of the countries. In Europe, on the other hand, a higher share of the population is above 65 years than the population under 15 years. Fertility rates The high share of children and youth in Africa is connected to the high fertility rates on the continent. For instance, South Sudan and Niger have the highest population growth rates globally. However, about 50 percent of the world’s population live in countries with low fertility, where women have less than 2.1 children. Some countries in Europe, like Latvia and Lithuania, have experienced a population decline of one percent, and in the Cook Islands, it is even above two percent. In Europe, the majority of the population was previously working-aged adults with few dependents, but this trend is expected to reverse soon, and it is predicted that by 2050, the older population will outnumber the young in many developed countries. Growing global population As of 2025, there are 8.1 billion people living on the planet, and this is expected to reach more than nine billion before 2040. Moreover, the global population is expected to reach 10 billions around 2060, before slowing and then even falling slightly by 2100. As the population growth rates indicate, a significant share of the population increase will happen in Africa.

While Costa Rica might have crashed out of the 2018 World Cup in the first round having finished bottom of their group, they were able to claim the title of the oldest average team. Their squad had an average age of 29.6 years, almost four years older than the squad of Nigeria, who had the youngest squad at the tournament.
France’s stars bring home the trophyFrance’s squad was full of superstars such as Kylian Mbappé, Paul Pogba, and Antoine Griezmann, making it the most expensive squad assembled at the 2018 World Cup. The stars did not fail to deliver, winning the World Cup final 4-2 against Croatia. This marked France’s second World Cup title, following the title they won at their home World Cup in 1998. Interestingly, the captain of the 1998 squad, Didier Deschamps, tasted success again in 2018 as he was the coach of the title-winning French team. With an annual salary of 3.5 million U.S. dollars, Deschamps was one of the best-paid managers at the 2018 World Cup, beaten only by Germany’s Joachim Löw, who boasted annual pay of 3.85 million U.S. dollars.

Getting through the group stages a tall order? With the World Cup being one of the highlights of the sporting calendar, it is no surprise that the players and squads are scrutinized to the finest detail. One of the more curious statistics is the average height of the players at the 2018 World Cup. Serbia’s squad towered over the rest with an average player height of 185.6 centimeters. By contrast, the smallest squad belonged to Saudi Arabia at an average of a comparatively diminutive 176.2 centimeters. As both teams failed to make it past the group stages, it seems that being of an average height was the recipe for success - France’s title winning squad measured up at a distinctly average 180.5 centimeters.

The median age of Germans in 2020 was 44.9 years, meaning that half the German population was younger, half older. This number decreased slightly from 1950 to 1970, likely due to the baby boom after World War II, then began increasing. It is expected to slowly increase to 47.4 by 2100. Aging in Germany This shift in the age makeup of Germany is driven by having fewer young people and more old people. While it has increased slightly in the last decade, the German fertility rate remains low. Fewer young people lead to a higher median age. Simultaneously, the life expectancy has increased, having the opposite effect. Regional and global trends The entire European Union, due to higher levels of development, shows an upward shift in its age distribution. While this shift is occurring globally, the level of Germany’s median age is a European phenomenon. In other parts of the world, the proportion of young and old inhabitants is skewed sharply toward the young, pulling the median age lower.

Africa has the youngest population in the world. Among the 35 countries with the lowest median age worldwide, only three fall outside the continent. In 2023, the median age in Niger was 15.1 years, the youngest country. This means that at this age point, half of the population was younger and half older. A young population reflects several demographic characteristics of a country. For instance, together with a high population growth, life expectancy in Western Africa is low: this reached 57 years for men and 59 for women. Overall, Africa has the lowest life expectancy in the world.

Africa’s population is still growing Africa’s population growth can be linked to a high fertility rate along with a drop in death rates. Despite the fertility rate on the continent, following a constant declining trend, it remains far higher compared to all other regions worldwide. It was forecast to reach 4.12 children per woman, compared to a worldwide average of 2.31 children per woman in 2024. Furthermore, the crude death rate in Africa overall dropped, only increasing slightly during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The largest populations on the continent Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the most populous African countries. In 2023, people living in Nigeria amounted to around 224 million, while the number for the three other countries exceeded 100 million each. Of those, the Democratic Republic of Congo sustained the fourth-highest fertility rate in Africa. Nigeria and Ethiopia also had high rates, with 5.24 and 4.16 births per woman, respectively. Although such a high fertility rate is expected to slow down, it will still impact the population structure, growing younger nations.

This statistic depicts the median age of the global labor force in 2019, by region and gender. In 2019, workers in Europe and Central Asia were the oldest in the world, as male workers had a median age of 41, and female workers had a median age of 41.8.

Iran's squad was the oldest out of any team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with an average age of 28.9. This was over four years older than the team with the youngest squad, Ghana, with an average age of 24.7.

The statistic shows a ranking of the participating national teams at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil by average age of players. The average age of the Germany squad for the World Cup in Brazil is 26.3 years.

Average player age of the 2014 World Cup squads - additional information

There were a total of 736 players across 32 teams in the World Cup, picked from domestic leagues in 52 countries. The Cameroon squad had an average age of 26.9, which matched the average age of all of the players at the tournament. This overall average marks a small change from the average of 27 years and 5 months at each of the last three FIFA World Cups. 58 players celebrated their birthday over the course of the tournament, including Argentina’s Lionel Messi, the most valuable player at the World Cup, who turned 27 on 24th June.

Argentina, who had the fifth most valuable team at the World Cup also went into the tournament with the oldest team on average (28.5 years). This squad included Martín Demichelis, Hugo Campagnaro and Maxi Rodríguez, all of whom were 33 at the start of the tournament, thus making them the joint 32nd oldest players in the World Cup. Ghana had the most youthful squad with the team’s average age standing at 24.9. AC Milan’s Michael Essien, aged 31, was the only squad member over the age of 30.

The oldest player at the whole tournament was Colombian goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, aged 43. By coming on as a substitute in the 85th minute of Colombia’s final group game against Japan, he became the oldest player ever to play in a World Cup game at the age of 43 years and 3 days, surpassing the record set by Cameroon’s Roger Milla at the 1994 World Cup in the USA.

The youngest player at the 2014 tournament was 18 year old Cameroonian forward Fabrice Olinga, although he remained an unused substitute throughout. Had he been selected, Olinga would have become the ninth-youngest player in World Cup history. The youngest-ever is Norman Whiteside, who played for Northern Ireland at Spain 1982 just 41 days after turning 17.

This statistic shows the countries with the lowest projected median age in 2050. By 2050, Niger is projected to have the population with the lowest median age at 19 years old.

The population of Italy is getting older every year, becoming one of the oldest ones in the world. In 2024, the average age of the Italian population was 46.6 years, 3.2 years more than the average age registered in 2010. However, the age differs significantly depending on the region. According to the most recent data for 2024, the “oldest” citizens of the Italian peninsula live in the region of Liguria (average age 49.5 years), whereas the youngest inhabit Campania (44.2 years on average). Women live longer than men The difference in the average age of the population can be observed not only on a regional basis, but also between genders. In 2021, Italian women were on average roughly three years older than men. When it comes to the life expectancy, studies from 2023 confirm the longevity of Italian women. In fact, females in Italy are expected to live on average about four years longer than men. The Old Continent In 2023, Europe was the continent with the highest share of population older than 65 years. Whereas the worldwide percentage of the population over 65 years was of ten percent, the percentage of elderly people in the Old Continent reached 19 percent.

The median age in India was 27 years old in 2020, meaning half the population was older than that, half younger. This figure was lowest in 1970, at 18.1 years, and was projected to increase to 47.8 years old by 2100. Aging in India India has the second largest population in the world, after China. Because of the significant population growth of the past years, the age distribution remains skewed in favor of the younger age bracket. This tells a story of rapid population growth, but also of a lower life expectancy. Economic effects of a young population Many young people means that the Indian economy must support a large number of students, who demand education from the economy but cannot yet work. Educating the future workforce will be important, because the economy is growing as well and is one of the largest in the world. Failing to do this could lead to high youth unemployment and political consequences. However, a productive and young workforce could provide huge economic returns for India.

This statistic shows the median age of the population among Middle Eastern countries in 2020. In Kuwait, the median age of the population was 36.8 years old in 2020, in comparison with a median population age of 20.8 in Palestine.