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The median age in the United States reached 39.2 years in 2024. This was up from 28.1 in 1970, reflecting a significant aging of the population. Over the coming decades, the number of retirees is projected to rise by about 40 percent by 2050. This demographic shift will present new challenges to American society, reshaping patterns of consumption, work and public policy in the decades ahead.

Can an older America balance the books?

Social Security spending is set to rise as America grows older. The program, which is the government’s main pillar of support for retirees, already absorbs about five percent of GDP. This could reach six percent by 2035. That trajectory will keep pressure on policymakers to balance promises to pensioners with broader fiscal constraints.

A world growing older

The aging trend is not unique to the U.S. The global median age reached 30.9 in 2025, up from 20.3 in 1970. By 2050, China, Japan and South Korea are expected to rank among the countries with the largest shares of people aged 65 and over. The change will oblige policymakers to adapt long-standing arrangements to societies where a larger share of people are in later life.