World population by age and region

Proportion of selected age groups of the world population in 2024, by region

Characteristic	Under 15 years	Over 65 years
North Africa	32%	6%
Latin America and the Caribbean	22%	10%
World	25%	10%
Western Asia	29%	6%
Oceania	23%	13%
North America	18%	18%
Europe	16%	20%
Central Asia	31%	6%
South Asia	27%	7%
Southeast Asia	22%	8%
East Asia	17%	17%
Sub-Saharan Africa	41%	3%

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Release date

October 2024

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Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

mid-2024

Supplementary notes

According to the source the data from the above statistic originates from official statistical yearbooks and bulletins of the particular country. Moreover, publications of the United Nations, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (Population Division) of the UN and the U.S. Census Bureau serve as data sources. Further sources are recent demographic studies, special studies and direct interviews with demographers and inquiries at statistical offices of the U.S. and other countries.

Citation formats

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.