Kazakhstan ranks among countries with the highest elderly population
People in Kazakhstan mark the International Day of Older Persons on October 1. It was declared at the 45th session of the UN GA and is called to respect older people, to draw attention to the significance of supporting the elderly, especially amid global population aging changes, Kazinform News Agency learnt from the Public Policy Institute.
According to the 2024 Revision of World Population Prospects, the number of people aged 65 and above is growing faster than any other age group.
The share of people aged 65 and above is projected to rise to 16% in 2050 and will be twice the number of children under 5 years old and almost reach the number of children under 12. The number of elderly people in Kazakhstan has grown by 22.2% over the past five years.
According to the UN standards, the country is considered aging if the share of older people aged 65 and above exceeds 7%. The National Statistics Bureau claims that there were 1,771,909 people aged 65 and above or 8.8% in 2024 that goes to prove that Kazakhstan joined the countries with the largest number of older adults.
A major percentage of senior citizens up to 65% live in urban areas, while 35% in rural areas. The majority of elderly people are women up to 63%. Most people who attained the age of 65 and older live in the city of Almaty (205,5867), followed by Karaganda and Turkistan regions with 139 449 and 121 299 respectively, while the least live in Mangistau (42 353), Atyrau (44 203) and Ulytau (20 356) regions.
It is noteworthy, that the elderly population worldwide will surpass youth by 2030.
