Population

• There are nearly 12 million pensioners, almost one in five of the UK 's total population.
• There are now more people in the UK aged 60 and above than there are under 18, and more pensioners than there are children under 16.
• There are 20.7 million people aged 50 years and over, over a third of the total UK population.
• There are 9,779,000 people in the UK aged 65 and above.
• Nearly 1.3 million people are aged 85 or over.
• There are 11,000 centenarians.
• About 3.7 million older people live alone.

• The number of people aged 65 years and over is expected to rise by over 60 per cent in the next 25 years to almost 15.8 million in 2031.
• Thepercentage of the total population who are over 65 is predicted to rise from 16 per cent to over 22 per cent in 2031 and nearly 26 per cent in 2071.
• The number of people over 85 in the UK is predicted to have doubled in the next 25 years and to have trebled in the next 35
• The population over 75 is projected to double in the next 30 years