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2024.10.01
Seoul
International Day of Older Persons
Olga Pynenkova
The International Day of Older Persons has been observed annually on October 1st since 1990. It was declared by the General Assembly of the United Nations to draw the attention of the public and governments of the world to the problems and opportunities that arise due to the increase in life expectancy and the appearance of an increasing number of older people in the population of different countries. In addition, the celebration of this day is intended to recall the challenges that older people face in the modern world and to emphasize the need for efforts to create a society with equal opportunities for people of all ages against the backdrop of the aging of the planet's population.
Since 1950, the average life expectancy in about half the countries of the world has increased by 25 years, to 75 years. This is due to the improvement of the standard of living in many countries, the development of medicine and technology, and the expansion of social guarantees. As a result, most countries are currently faced with an increase in the number of older people to one degree or another. Thus, according to the World Health Organization, by 2030, every sixth person in the world will be over 60 years old - thus, there will be 1.4 billion people over 60 in the world against 1 billion people in 2020. By 2050, this figure will reach 2.1 billion, of which 426 million will be people over 80 years old.
According to the forecast of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, the share of people over 65 in the world population will increase to 16 percent by 2050 from 10 percent in 2022. Thus, in 2050, the number of people over 65 will be equal to the number of children under 12 years old and more than twice the number of children under 5 years old.
If earlier the problem of population ageing was relevant mainly for high-income countries (for example, Japan, where the share of the population over 60 years old is already about 30 percent), now low- and middle-income countries have also faced it. It is expected that by 2050 about two thirds of all elderly people will live in low- and middle-income countries. According to forecasts, over the next 25 years the share of the population over 65 in Europe and North America will reach almost 27 percent, in East and South-East Asia - more than 25 percent, in Australia and New Zealand - almost 24 percent, and in Latin America and the Caribbean - almost 19 percent.
This trend makes even more obvious the need for society, governments, non-profit organizations and other institutions around the world to direct their combined efforts to create an environment and conditions that meet the interests of elderly people. First of all, these efforts should be aimed at developing the healthcare sector and integrated and long-term care services. An important part of the work to ensure decent conditions for older people is a coordinated fight against ageism and other forms of discrimination that older people face today, the development of tools for integrating older people into society as its active members, as well as the creation of communities in which they could learn new skills and develop their abilities.
Written by Olga Pynenkova for Yonsei GSIS Human Rights Hub
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