Over-65s surpass under-15s in ageing society

Census shows population has risen to record levels fuelled by increasing number of pensioners

‘It is more important than ever that we are geared up as a society to meet older people’s needs’

‘These changes are an economic time bomb ticking away under the health and welfare system that no politician knows how to defuse’

OVER-65S outnumber under 15s for the first time in recorded history, the census has revealed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today publishes data on population and household estimates in England and Wales, by sex and age, as of March 2021. It found that the population has risen to record levels of almost 60million people. The figure marks a rise of 6.3 per cent since the previous census a decade ago.

Analysis by The Daily Telegraph has revealed that the nation’s swelling population is being fuelled by an increasing number of people aged 65 and over – equating to around two million more pensioners now compared with 2011.

Between 2011 and 2021, the population of England and Wales grew from 56,075,912 to 59,597,300.

The ONS said that this marks “the largest population ever recorded through a census” and also shows how “the trend of population ageing has continued, with more people than ever before in the older age groups”.

While elderly care charities have said the results deserve “celebration”, economists have warned that the ageing population is an “economic time bomb ticking away under the health and welfare system”.

The census revealed that older people are living longer, with the number of nonagenarians going above the halfa-million mark for the first time.

The number of over-65s has also overtaken the number of younger people for the first time. In 2021, there were 11.1million people aged over 65 and 10.4million under-15s. In 2011, the figures were 9.3million and 9.9million.

Furthermore, the rise in over-65s has now reached record levels. In 2011, there were 9.2million older people (16.4 per cent of the population), but by 2021, this figure rose to 11.1million (18.6 per cent).

Among the areas that saw the biggest increase in the proportion of over-65s between this census and the last, include: Derbyshire Dales: 22.3 per cent in 2011 to 28.2 per cent in 2021; Richmondshire: 17.5 per cent to 23.3 per cent; Hambleton: 21.6 per cent to 27.3 per cent; and Northumberland: 21.6 per cent to 27.3 per cent.

The number of people aged 90 and over (527,900, 0.9 per cent of the population) has increased since 2011, when it was 429,017, or 0.8 per cent.

In contrast, the census showed that nearly two thirds of the population in 2021 (38.2million) was aged 15 to 64 years. As with the other age groups, there are more people in this age group compared with 2011 (when 37million people were aged 15 to 64 years).

While the number of people aged 15 to 64 has increased since the last census – as with all other age groups – there has been a slight decrease in the size of this group. In 2011, this group equated to 65.9 per cent of the population (37million). By 2021, this dropped to 64.1 per cent (38.2million).

The remaining 17.4 per cent of the population (10.4 million) was aged under 15 years in 2021 – a rise from 2011 when it equated 9.9million people or 17.6 per cent.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, hailed the census as “a cause for celebration”, saying: “It’s easy for us to take such a trend for granted but earlier generations could only really hope that they would live beyond the traditional ‘three score and ten’.”

However, she also raised concerns about the social and financial implications of an ageing population, adding that just because people are living longer, it is not always in good health.

“It is more important than ever that we are geared up as a society to meet older people’s needs,” she said. “Sadly, at the moment, too many older people are stuck in hospitals because of the lack of care in the community, waiting on long waiting lists for surgery or diagnostics, and struggling to access their local GP.

“The pandemic pressed the fast forward button on ageing for some older people, and there’s a strong case for more government investment in our health and care services so they are better able to respond to the increased demand as a result.”

However, Chris Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute for Economic Affairs, described the census as the result of “baby boomers growing old”.

“There’s a notable bulge in the number of 70-to-79-year-olds when compared with the 2011 census,” he said, which “partly explains why the NHS continues to struggle despite seemingly endless funding”.

“These demographic changes are an economic time bomb ticking away under the health and welfare system that no politician knows how to defuse.”