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Countries with the Highest Population 65 and Older

Name the top 20 countries with the highest number of people who are at least 65 years of age.
% over 65 from the World Bank, 2022
Total population as of 14 October 2023. More info here.
Quiz by cuotak
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Last updated: October 14, 2023
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First submittedSeptember 8, 2014
Times taken64,838
Average score85.7%
Rating4.82
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Total
Country
%
196.7 m
China
13.7
98.8 m
India
6.9
58.9 m
United States
17.1
36.8 m
Japan
29.9
22.8 m
Russia
15.8
21.4 m
Brazil
9.9
19.1 m
Indonesia
6.9
Total
Country
%
18.7 m
Germany
22.4
14.6 m
France
21.7
14.1 m
Italy
24.1
13.1 m
United Kingdom
19.2
10.9 m
Thailand
15.2
10.7 m
Mexico
8.3
10.5 m
Bangladesh
6.0
Total
Country
%
10.3 m
Pakistan
4.3
9.6 m
Spain
20.3
9.1 m
South Korea
17.5
9.0 m
Vietnam
9.1
7.6 m
Poland
18.6
7.4 m
Turkey
8.6
7.4 m
Canada
19.0
+8
Level 62
Dec 13, 2016
Got Thailand and Vietnam with six second remaining. Good quiz.
+1
Level 54
Oct 19, 2019
yeah, almost every southeast asian country is here
+55
Level 67
Mar 10, 2020
Don't mean to be rude but 3 out of 11 isn't 'almost every'
+6
Level 64
Nov 8, 2021
You probably mean the largest East Asian countries
+1
Level 42
Oct 26, 2022
Englishbub they didn't say almost every country here is southeast asian... they said almost every southeast asian country is here. There's a difference there bud.. don't mean to be rude xD
+16
Level 65
Mar 11, 2023
Don't mean to be rude, but there's TWENTY ANSWERS, so OUT OF ELEVEN is CLEARLY referring to SE ASIAN COUNTRIES AS A WHOLE.
+3
Level 37
Feb 5, 2023
Mate, they already understood that, thats why they said out of 11 (Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Timor Leste)
+40
Level 72
Dec 14, 2016
You could make this more difficult by ranking them according to % of population rather than over all number. I suspect that would change some of the countries lower down the list. At the minute a lot are merely countries with massive populations. Good quiz, I just think that twist would make people think a bit more while taking it.
+25
Level 77
Dec 14, 2016
Seconded. Right now it's almost just another "who has the most people?" quiz.
+4
Level 51
Mar 14, 2017
Very informative though.
+3
Level 58
Mar 15, 2017
Yes i third the motion, this looks too much like a most people quiz
+13
Level 71
Oct 17, 2019
Yeah although a notable exception is the big african countries so that makes it more interesting
+1
Level 68
Apr 24, 2022
I fourth the motion
+21
Level 67
Mar 14, 2017
But it's also sobering to realize Nigeria, ranked seventh in the world in population, isn't even on the list. There are a few other surprising omissions.
+26
Level 82
Mar 14, 2017
Not a single country in Africa. Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan, Congo, Morocco, Algeria, Uganda.. in spite of quite large populations, don't show up. Also notably missing is Iran, Iraq, the Philippines and Colombia. I was personally a little surprised to not see Argentina.

If you switched it to % then it would just be almost exactly the same as the quiz about countries with highest life expectancy, which has already been on the front page a few times.

+1
Level 79
Oct 16, 2023
This is pretty darn incorrect, the list of countries here by percentage of population only shares six countries with the top 20 on the highest life expectancy quiz. A lot of similar countries near the top, but nowhere near the same quiz
+4
Level 66
Oct 17, 2019
Iran, Philippines, Burma, Colombia, Argentina are the ones missing if you go by population.

Iraq isnt missing, it has a lower population than the lowest one on here, Ukraine. Everything with a lower population isnt missing, the ones I listed above all have a higher population (with African countries excluded).

Though missing isnt really correct. because then you'd have a top 24. Colombia and Argentina wouldnt make that top 20. Also Spain would be off the list, as would south Korea and Ukraine.

long story short(er): Iran, Philippines, Burma would be in, and Spain, South Korea and Ukraine would be out if it was top 20 without African countries.

personally Spain surprised me a little, because somehow I always think it doesnt have a big population, because it is less densely populated than many other western european countries (The netherlands is approx. 400/km² italy 200/km² and spain 100/km² to give an idea)

+4
Level 82
Oct 17, 2019
Yeah that makes sense. I thought Iraq had a slightly larger population than that. I was aware that Spain had a large older population though.
+4
Level 72
Jan 7, 2021
Maybe a bunch of old Argentines wanted to move back to Germany before they died.
+1
Level 41
Apr 28, 2022
chilling comment
+2
Level 79
Oct 14, 2023
Why is that chilling?
+1
Level 72
Oct 14, 2023
... If that is a serious question, the implication is that Nazi war criminals (many of whom fled to South America after the war) are the "old Argentines [wanting] to move back to Germany".

Although realistically by the 2020s, a larger and larger percentage of them have simply died by now. Seems fair to say you'd have to be at least 100 by 2021 (18 in 1939), and easily might be 110 or 120, which is about as old as it is possible for the longest-lived person to be.

+1
Level 79
Oct 14, 2023
My bad, I thought the comment they were referring to was OP's, not the one above their own.
+4
Level 84
Mar 14, 2017
This. Now it's just "spam the countries with most people"-quiz.
+1
Level 66
Oct 17, 2019
It would definitely change things and make it a lot more interesting to see it percentage wise
+1
Level 41
Apr 28, 2022
K. Do it.
+1
Level 58
Oct 17, 2019
I actually thought that's what the quiz is about till about 40 secs left.
+1
Level 64
Apr 26, 2022
Yes, it'a a quiz of which are the largest countries in the world, esp in Eurasia. I think the World Bank that did the analysis left out all the smaller countries from the study.
+1
Level 79
Oct 16, 2023
I made this since it didn't look like anyone else had yet. A more interesting quiz in my opinion.

https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/285419/countries-with-the-highest-percentage-of-population-65-and-older

+2
Level 71
Mar 14, 2017
So many reasons why some populations may lose people before they reach 65. Everything from wars both civil and international, pre-natal and ante-natal assistance, availability of medical services and medicines, regional prevalence of diseases such as malaria, percentage of people smoking tobacco and other lung and body disease encouraging habits, lack of proper hygiene and use of parasitic foods....... growing old in some areas is like a lottery.
+3
Level 78
Mar 14, 2017
I'm surprised by the amount of developing countries on this list, but I guess I shouldn't be because it's going by total number and not as a percentage of a total population.
+4
Level 65
Mar 14, 2017
Finished with 0:15 to go...it's scary to think that Nigeria is the seventh largest country in the world and it doesn't even make this quiz.
+2
Level 84
Mar 14, 2017
Scary or just interesting?
+9
Level 74
Mar 14, 2017
Not so much scary, but sobering...most countries' average life expectancy is governed by infant mortality rates. These statistics prove that African countries have a real issue with disease (like AIDS) and continuing wars
+2
Level 79
Oct 14, 2023
I'm not objecting to your suggestion that disease and conflict are problems in parts of Africa, but this isn't just about infant mortality rates or mortality rates in general. The birth rate in most of Africa has relatively recently become much higher than the rest of the world, so most of the population is very young. High birth rates and dropping death rates mean quickly growing population, but a young overall age.
+1
Level 66
Oct 17, 2019
yes very interesting when people die a lot...
+4
Level 71
Apr 19, 2021
In terms of infant mortality rates, war, and AIDS, Africa is in a much better place now than it was 20 years ago, but of course it still lags behind the rest of the world by a lot. Hopefully, populous African countries will eventually make this list, although it might take a while.
+6
Level 68
Mar 14, 2017
Maths helps: Couldn't think of Bangladesh organically so took 8 million and multiplied by 20 to get 160 million, which I knew correlated to Bangladesh.
+2
Level 76
Mar 14, 2017
Vatican City, surely?
+7
Level 60
Mar 14, 2017
By percentage, sure!
+2
Level 70
Mar 14, 2017
How is Canada not on this list?
+8
Level 44
Mar 14, 2017
Not many people.
+4
Level 60
Oct 14, 2023
It made it now. 20th
+1
Level 38
Mar 14, 2017
wow Japan is old
+1
Level 42
Mar 15, 2017
WHAT. I ACTUALLY DID IT FIRST TRY WITH 45 SECS TO SPARE. WHAT
+1
Level 26
Mar 15, 2017
Barley missed Ukraine.
+9
Level 72
Dec 20, 2017
So did Wheat and Rye...
+1
Level 62
Jul 13, 2020
...and hops
+3
Level 48
Apr 26, 2022
holodomor moment
+5
Level 75
May 9, 2019
Sad that Nigeria isn't on here
+3
Level 48
May 9, 2019
Why do I always forget Spain
+2
Level 78
Oct 17, 2019
You can actually finish this by extrapolating the total population of each country from the numbers and percentages provided - then just fill in the country you know has the population you've roughly worked out.
+1
Level 74
Oct 17, 2019
Or just spam the most populous countries right away.
+4
Level 86
Oct 17, 2019
It's sad, but it's basically name the most populous nations not in Africa.
+1
Level 66
Oct 17, 2019
I would love to see this on a map! To get a nice view
+2
Level 58
Dec 15, 2020
I got all of them by doing this: what are the most populous countries... a s i a then I thought about where the easiest places to make it to an older age would be and then... e u r o p e... also the big north american ones too.
+1
Level 52
Jan 5, 2022
I almost forgot Spain.....
+1
Level 50
Apr 24, 2022
My ba-ck,it’s br-oken
+5
Level 69
Apr 24, 2022
I sincerely hope Ukraine remains on this list.
+2
Level 66
Apr 24, 2022
This is just a highest population quiz.
+4
Level 63
Mar 31, 2023
No it's not. Nigeria is not even on this quiz.
+3
Level 78
Mar 31, 2023
I mean... considering there are only two European countries in the top 20 most populated and a lot more on this quiz, you're quite wrong.
+1
Level 34
Apr 24, 2022
Missed Vietnam, didn't know they had such a high population
+1
Level 41
May 3, 2023
typed in nigeria since it is one of the most populous countries and then remembered that it has a life expectancy of 52 :(
+2
Level 68
Oct 16, 2023
It's CRAZY that Nigeria doesn't make this list....

Bad times ahead

+2
Level 79
Oct 16, 2023
I do not understand why people keep saying this and implying that it's really bad for Nigeria. This is a top 20 list and if y'all looked at the source data you'd see that Nigeria is 24th on the list. It's really not that surprising and I don't really get the whole 'bad times ahead' argument.
+1
Level 68
Dec 7, 2023
Because Nigeria is as populous as Pakistan but doesn't even have as many elderly as Canada.

The population is exploding in western and central Africa.

Famines, civil wars and refugee crisis are inevitable.

+1
Level 79
Dec 17, 2023
Understood, but I don't see how making this list would help Nigeria's situation. We could have a very long and involved discussion about the roots of conflict in Nigeria, which partially involve demography. I don't think famines, civil wars, or refugee crises are inevitable nor do I think they would happen because of Nigeria's population distribution. There are plenty of countries where all of those things are possibilities, especially as the global security situation continues to deteriorate.
+2
Level 63
Oct 21, 2023
Guessed them all except for Poland.
+1
Level 21
Dec 7, 2023
This quiz does not make much sense. It's obvious that ultra populous countries have large number of older people (India: almost 100m, but only 6,9%). Their percentage of the total population is much more important. Japan: 29.9% (OMG!!!). Probably their welfare system will collapse sooner or later.
+1
Level 48
Dec 7, 2023
missed canada somehow
+1
Level 47
Dec 7, 2023
Kinda wish this was % of population instead of overall. When quizzes go by total # of people in X category the United States, China, India, and Indonesia are basically guaranteed to be on there.
+1
Level 46
Jan 12, 2024
The fact that Nigeria isn't here despite having more than 220 million people is... I'm speechless...
+1
Level 68
Jan 18, 2024
OMG! Nigeria has 220 million people and over 65 people is not even 7 million! We really need to stop population growth. They are all hungry but still breed... Just absence of education.
+1
Level 63
Jan 25, 2024
There's going to be a real demographic crisis in first-world nations. I worry for the future of places like Japan, Germany, Italy, and South Korea.
+1
Level 61
Feb 4, 2024
Crazy that countries like Ethiopia and Nigeria aren't on here. They have over 100 million people!