Where 10% of Britons will be over 85 by 2037
NEARLY one in ten people in some parts of the UK will be aged 85 or over in 20 years’ time, estimates suggest.
Official figures predict a major share of the population will be made up of those described as ‘the oldest old’ – people nearing their 90s or even their 100th birthday.
Nine areas of the country are likely to see this age group make up at least 9 per cent of their population, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
These include popular retirement destinations on the coast and in rural counties.
Britain’s rapidly ageing population means an increasing burden will fall on the young, whose taxes will pay for health and social care for the older generation as well as pensions and benefits. As the figures were published yesterday, the Local Government Association predicted
‘Longevity should be celebrated’
that in four years’ time, 40p of every pound in council tax will be spent on care for the elderly and vulnerable.
The ONS projections, based on population estimates drawn up in 2012, look as far forward as 2037.
By that year, they suggest one in 20 Britons will be 85 and over – more than double the proportion now.
The average person will be aged almost 43 in 2037, compared to 40 now. In the areas populated by the largest share of older people, the average age will rise to the late 50s.
In the Rother district around Bexhill- on- Sea, East Sussex, the average resident will be almost 58.
Over-65s will make up nearly one in four of the UK’s population by 2037, the breakdown suggested. Currently, they make up less than one in five. According to the projections, the three districts with the highest proportion of over-85s will be West Dorset, the Malvern Hills near Worcester, and North Norfolk. In each area, 9.6 per cent of the population will be 85 and over in 2037, the ONS said.
Janet Morrison, of the charity Independent Age, said: ‘This surge in longevity should be celebrated and is testament to the huge strides we have made – particularly in medical care – over the last half century.
‘But to prepare for it, as a society we need to take measures such as continuing to improve our health and social care systems, helping older people stay in the workplace for longer and tackling the risks of loneliness and isolation in older age.
‘ Otherwise we run the risk of squandering the rich potential of our ageing society.’
ONS projections published two years ago said that by 2037 there are likely to be 111,000 centenarians in Britain – nearly a ten-fold increase on the 13,780 in 2013.