# Population age distribution in Europe

A map of a former edition of the Atlas of Switzerland, the national atlas published by ETH Zurich. It opens only in the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS, not in the web atlas; see the links below.

- Map: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/population-age-distribution-in-europe/
- Short title: Age structure
- Map id: 154
- Categories: Global Switzerland › Society and Culture › Demography
- Keywords: Demography
- Published: 2010-11-26
- Last revised: 2022-02-21
- Content language: English
- Other languages: [Deutsch](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/de/thema/altersverteilung-der-bevoelkerung-in-europa.md), [Français](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/fr/theme/repartition-de-la-population-par-age-en-europe.md), [Italiano](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/it/tema/ripartizione-della-popolazione-secondo-leta-europa.md)

## Description

The EU’s population has aged in the last years. Those aged less than 15 years accounted for 15.6% of the EU’s population in 2014, although this rate varied considerably among the Member States, from lows of 13.1% in in Germany to a high of 22.0% in Ireland. In contrast, the proportion of the EU population aged more than 64 years grew to 18.6% in 2014, the share rising to almost 21% in Italy and Germany.

A little less than two thirds (65.8%) of the EU’s population were of working age (15 to 64 years old) in 2014. In a series of population pyramids, projections through until 2050 suggest, however, that this relatively large proportion of the population may shrink gradually to about 57% of the total. This narrower working base will need to support a growing population of persons aged over 65 years or more (nearly 29 % of the population). The importance of the very old (80 years or more) will be considerable by 2060, when this age group is likely to account for 12.0% of the EU’s population, swelled by numbers from the so-called baby-boom generation.

## Sources

- Eurostat (2009): [Bevölkerungsstruktur und Bevölkerungsalterung](http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Eurostat_yearbook/de). Luxemburg. (= Europa in Zahlen – Eurostat-Jahrbuch)
- Eurostat (2015): [Bevölkerungsstruktur und Bevölkerungsalterung](http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Population_structure_and_ageing/de#Entwicklung_der_Bev.C3.B6lkerungsalterung_in_der_EU_in_Vergangenheit_und_Zukunft). Luxemburg. (= Europa in Zahlen – Eurostat-Jahrbuch)

## Data sources

- Eurostat (2015): [Bevölkerungsstruktur und Bevölkerungsalterung](http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Population_structure_and_ageing/de#Entwicklung_der_Bev.C3.B6lkerungsalterung_in_der_EU_in_Vergangenheit_und_Zukunft). Luxemburg. (= Europa in Zahlen – Eurostat-Jahrbuch)
- Eurostat (2022): [Bevölkerungsstand](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/de/web/products-datasets/-/DEMO_PJAN)
- Eurostat: [Geobasisdaten Europa](http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/gisco/geodata/reference-data)
- World Bank (2010): [World Databank](http://.worldbank.org)

## Data owners

- [World Bank](http://data.worldbank.org/)
- [Eurostat (Eurostat)](http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/)

## Citation

The terms of use ask to name the Atlas of Switzerland and the data owners, and to keep the source references in exports, screenshots and embeds. Cite the map as:

> Atlas of Switzerland (2022): Population age distribution in Europe. ETH Zürich. Map data © World Bank, Eurostat. https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/population-age-distribution-in-europe/

## Links

- Map page, with the description and sources and a button that opens the map in the desktop atlas: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/population-age-distribution-in-europe/
- Open the map in the desktop atlas (version 4), where it is installed: adsglobe://map/154
- Download of the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/ads4-download/

For the use and citation of maps and data, see the [terms of use](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/terms-of-use/).