Japan: an older population than the US
the age half the people are older than, 2023
Half the people here are older than 49.0 years, against 38.0 in the US. In 1950: 21.3 against 29.0. It became older than the US in 1967; in 1966 they were level.
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The median age splits a population in two: half the people are younger, half older.
Blue is the country of the headline, orange the one it is compared with; one scale. The ring marks where the lines crossed; the gap after it is shaded. The large numbers are the latest year both share.
- Japan: Median age years
21.3 (1950) → 49.0 (2023)
- United States: Median age years
29.0 (1950) → 38.0 (2023)
Well-known countries against every country of sufficient size. An overtaking counts if the country was well behind at the start, ahead in no more than a fifth of the years before it, and it lasts to the latest shared year (at least two or three years in a row). A short dip of up to two years does not end a lead and is named. At most three overtakings per well-known country, and each country in at most one card of a kind.
UN estimates (World Population Prospects 2024). Populations age both because people live longer and because fewer children are born.
A question for this picture
Who will pay pensions in a country ageing faster than the rich ones?