The number of people aged 60 and over passed 1 billion in 2020 and is heading for 2.1 billion by 2050, yet more than 165 million people above retirement age receive no pension, about one in six older people experience abuse each year, and only just over half of countries have a national long-term care policy.
Updated October 15, 2026. Written from the sources listed below, not independently peer-reviewed.
Out of every 100 people aged 60 or over living in the community, how many experienced some form of abuse in the past year?
165 million+
People above retirement age with no pension
ILO estimate. Worldwide, 79.6% of people above the statutory retirement age receive a pension, up 5.5 percentage points since 2015; coverage says nothing about whether benefits are adequate.
Data year 2023. Source: International Labour Organization, 2024
1 in 6
Older people who experienced abuse in the past year
15.7% of people aged 60 and over in community settings, from a 2017 review of 52 studies in 28 countries. Abuse in care homes and hospitals is not included and is poorly measured.
Data year 2017. Source: World Health Organization, 2024
56.7%
Countries with a national long-term care policy
Share of countries reporting to WHO's midterm review of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (country survey, published 2026), up from 49% in 2023. A third of reporting countries have little or no dedicated funding to develop long-term care.
Data year 2025. Source: World Health Organization, 2026
Unit: billion people
* Projection, not a measurement. 2020 is an estimate; 2030 and 2050 are projections reported by WHO, based on UN population estimates. Over the same period the number of people aged 80 and over is projected to triple to 426 million.
The UN General Assembly declared 2021 to 2030 the Decade of Healthy Ageing, with four areas of action: combating ageism, age-friendly environments, integrated care and long-term care. WHO's midterm review, sent to the General Assembly in September 2026, reports progress on policy: 57.7% of countries now have legislation against age discrimination (44.5% in 2018) and 56.7% a national long-term care policy (49% in 2023). But a third of reporting countries have little or no dedicated funding for long-term care, only 22.7% can track older people's health over time, and fewer countries report active forums that involve older people (43.3%, down from 53.1% in 2020). SDG target 1.3 also calls for social protection for all, including older people; the ILO estimates that 79.6% of people above retirement age receive a pension.
Around 1 in 10 older people (about 11.8%) experience loneliness and 1 in 4 are socially isolated. WHO links loneliness to about 870,000 deaths a year across all ages.
Source: World Health Organization, 2025Abuse is reported far more often in institutions: in the limited data available, 64.2% of staff in care homes and similar settings said they had committed some form of abuse in the past year, most often psychological abuse or neglect.
Source: World Health Organization, 2024Public spending on pensions and other non-health benefits for older people averages 7.6% of GDP worldwide but ranges from 10.5% in Europe and Central Asia to 1.7% in Africa. The ILO notes that adequate old-age benefits remain a particular challenge for women, low earners, workers in precarious jobs and migrant workers.
Source: International Labour Organization, 2024An estimated 71% of excess deaths from COVID-19 between 2020 and 2023 were among people aged 60 and over, and the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at 60 widened between 2000 and 2023.
Source: World Health Organization, 2026Each country is shaded by its latest available value, so you can see where the gap is widest. Hover or tap a country, search for one, or open the full table.
Loading country values…
Values in per 100 people aged 15–64.
Old-age dependency ratio from UN World Population Prospects 2024; every country shows its value for 2025, which is a short-term projection rather than a census count. Darker shades show where pension, health and care systems serve the most older people relative to the working-age population, not that older people are a burden; many older people work, care for others and contribute in other ways. Open country data on pension coverage, long-term care or elder abuse are not available from World Bank or Our World in Data, so this demographic measure is shown instead.
Source: UN Population Division (World Population Prospects), via World Bank Open Data. Latest year available per country; years differ.
Values load from World Bank Open Data. Simplified Natural Earth borders; they imply no position on disputed territories.
Instead of one “percent solved” score, DO GOOD rates three separate dimensions. A problem can have mature solutions that still reach too few people. These ratings are an editorial reading of the sources on this page, not a measured index.
Has the situation improved in the real world?
ModeratePension coverage has risen to 79.6% of people above retirement age, 5.5 points more than in 2015, but more than 165 million still receive nothing and the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at 60 widened between 2000 and 2023.
How mature and validated are the available solutions?
ModerateTax-financed pensions are well established as a way to extend income security in old age. For preventing abuse and loneliness, WHO describes the evidence for most interventions as limited, although caregiver support, helplines and intergenerational contact are considered promising.
How widely are effective solutions actually used?
LowOnly 56.7% of countries report a national long-term care policy and a third of reporting countries have little or no dedicated funding for it; fewer than half have legislation giving access to assistive devices.
Abuse figures rest on a 2017 review of studies from 28 countries, data from care institutions are scarce, and only 22.7% of countries can track older people's health over time.
More countries now have laws against age discrimination and long-term care policies, and pension coverage is rising. At the same time the older population is growing fast, funding for care remains thin, and fewer countries report forums that involve older people in decisions.
People are living longer almost everywhere, which is a public health success. The number of people aged 60 and over passed 1 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach 2.1 billion by 2050, while the number aged 80 and over is expected to triple to 426 million. Longer lives do not automatically mean healthy, secure or connected ones. The gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at age 60 widened between 2000 and 2023, so many of the added years are spent with illness or disability. More than 165 million people above the statutory retirement age receive no pension, and in many countries benefits that do exist are too low to cover basic needs.
The hardest hit are older people who depend on others for daily care, live on low incomes, or have few social ties. Around 1 in 10 older people experience loneliness and 1 in 4 are socially isolated, and about 1 in 6 people aged 60 and over are subjected to some form of abuse each year. Older people also bore the brunt of COVID-19: an estimated 71% of excess deaths between 2020 and 2023 were among people aged 60 and over. Behind much of this sits ageism, held by an estimated one in two people worldwide, which casts older people as frail or dependent and affects how they are treated and how policies are made. Only about 57% of countries report a national long-term care policy, and a third have little or no dedicated funding to develop such care.
There is no single measure of whether older people live with dignity. International reporting combines demographic estimates, social protection statistics, health estimates and country surveys of policies. The main measures are:
Who counts as an older person
WHO and the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing usually refer to people aged 60 and over, while UN population projections and many statistics use 65 and over. Statutory retirement ages differ between countries, so pension statistics use each country's own age threshold.
Pension coverage (SDG indicator 1.3.1)
The ILO estimates the share of people above the statutory pensionable age who receive an old-age pension, contributory or tax-financed. The figure counts whether a benefit is paid, not whether it is enough to live on, which the ILO assesses separately.
Abuse of older people
WHO defines elder abuse as a single or repeated act, or a failure to act, within a relationship where trust is expected, that causes harm or distress to an older person. Prevalence figures come from surveys pooled in a 2017 review of 52 studies in 28 countries; data from care homes, hospitals and other institutions are scarce.
Health, care and connection
Healthy life expectancy at 60 estimates how many of the remaining years are lived in good health. Loneliness (feeling a lack of connection) and social isolation (having few social contacts) are measured with survey questions. Progress on care and policy is tracked through WHO surveys of countries for the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021 to 2030).
What works
Pensions paid from general taxes, not only from past contributions, reach people who worked informally or cared for family without pay, many of them women. The ILO describes them as an important source of income for older persons; overall, 79.6% of people above retirement age now receive a pension.
Limits
Benefit levels in some countries are too low to guarantee a basic income floor, and spending on old-age benefits ranges from 10.5% of GDP in Europe and Central Asia to 1.7% in Africa.
What works
WHO's Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) approach brings regular assessment of older people's physical and mental capacities into community and primary health services, so that declines are caught early and care is planned around the person. 54.6% of countries report comprehensive health and social assessments of older people.
Limits
Integrated care requires health and social services to work together, which most systems are not organised to do, and assessments help only if follow-up services exist.
What works
National long-term care policies define who is entitled to help with daily activities at home or in residential care, set quality standards and support family carers. 56.7% of countries now report such a policy.
Limits
A third of reporting countries have little or no dedicated funding, so policies often exist on paper while families, mostly women, provide most care unpaid.
What works
WHO identifies three approaches that reduce ageism: laws and policies, education that builds empathy, and intergenerational contact. Legislation against age discrimination now exists in 57.7% of countries. For abuse, caregiver support, money management programmes, helplines and multidisciplinary teams are considered the most promising.
Limits
WHO notes that the evidence for most abuse-prevention interventions is still limited, and laws work only when older people know their rights and can use them.
What works
Befriending, support and community groups, social skills training and talking therapies, delivered face to face or digitally, aim to rebuild social connection. Age-friendly communities with accessible transport and digital access make it easier to stay in touch.
Limits
Programmes vary widely in quality and evaluation, and those who are most isolated are often the hardest to reach.
Promising, but not proven at scale. The stage shows how far each approach has come; it is not a recommendation.
Schemes that bring younger and older people together, through mentoring, shared housing, life-story projects or volunteering, are one of the three strategies WHO identifies against ageism. Effects on loneliness and health over the long term, and how to run them at scale, are still being studied.
Video calls, online groups and remote monitoring are being tested to reduce isolation and support care at home. WHO has mapped the evidence for digital interventions against loneliness in older adults; many older people still lack devices, skills or connectivity, and results differ by setting.
Following the 2025 report of its Commission on Social Connection, WHO is working to strengthen the evidence on which interventions reduce social isolation and loneliness among older people and to produce guidance on scaling up those that work.
New WHO guidance on long-term care services and on delivering integrated care in communities aims to help countries build care close to home instead of relying on institutions or unpaid family care alone. Countries are only beginning to apply it.
Implementation gap
33.8% of reporting countries have very little or no dedicated resources to develop long-term care, and WHO's midterm review calls for greater investment.
Implementation gap
More than 165 million people above retirement age receive no pension, and adequate benefits are hardest to secure for women, low earners, workers in precarious jobs and migrants.
Coordination gap
Older people's needs span medical treatment, help with daily living, income and social contact, but these are usually run by separate ministries and services. Fewer countries now report active multi-stakeholder forums on ageing (43.3%, down from 53.1% in 2020).
Knowledge gap
Only 22.7% of countries can track older people's health over time, and data on abuse in hospitals, care homes and other institutions are scarce.
Implementation gap
An estimated one in two people hold ageist attitudes, and ageism is linked to an estimated 6.3 million cases of depression worldwide. Assumptions that older people are frail or dependent also influence how policies are made.
Technology gap
Less than half of countries (45.4%) have legislation that provides access to assistive devices such as hearing aids, glasses and walking aids, which are often what allows older people to stay independent.
Unresolved questions, not vetted breakthroughs. Answering any of them would change what is possible.
Which interventions, from caregiver support to financial safeguards and inspections of care homes, actually reduce abuse, and how common is abuse in institutions in low- and middle-income countries where almost no data exist?
Do programmes that bring generations together reduce loneliness, ageism and poor health in the long run, for both older and younger participants, and which formats work best in different cultures?
How can countries with large informal economies fund long-term care fairly, combining taxes, social insurance and family care, without pushing older people and their carers into poverty?
Why has the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at 60 widened, and which mix of prevention, early detection of declining capacity and rehabilitation could close it?
Call, visit or invite an older neighbour, relative or friend regularly. Regular contact is one of the simplest ways to reduce isolation, and it also helps you notice if someone needs support.
Volunteer with a local scheme that pairs younger and older people, for example to record life stories, share skills or simply talk. Choose programmes that train and support volunteers.
Question jokes and assumptions that treat older people as frail or a burden, including in your own workplace. Learn the signs of abuse and neglect, and contact local adult protection services or a helpline if you are worried about someone.
Offer practical help to family members who care for an older relative, such as a few hours of respite, and support organisations that advocate for decent pay and conditions for care workers and for public long-term care.
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World Health Organization (news release, 1 October 2026), published 2026
WHO's summary of the midterm review of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (report of the Secretary-General A/81/366, September 2026), based on a survey of countries. Source of long-term care policy and funding shares, ageism legislation, assistive device laws, data gaps, multi-stakeholder forums, the widening healthy life expectancy gap and the COVID-19 excess death share.
International Labour Organization (2024), published 2024
The latest ILO flagship report on social protection, with estimates for 2023 (SDG indicator 1.3.1). Source of the 79.6% pension coverage, the 165 million without a pension, old-age spending by region and the groups facing adequacy gaps.
World Health Organization (15 June 2024), published 2024
WHO's current fact sheet. Source of the definition, the 15.7% community prevalence and 64.2% staff-reported prevalence (from reviews of studies in a limited set of countries), risk factors and the state of evidence on prevention.
World Health Organization (1 October 2025), published 2025
WHO's current fact sheet. Source of the population projections for people aged 60 and over (2020, 2030, 2050) and 80 and over, and of the four action areas of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing.
World Health Organization (web page, accessed October 2026), published 2025
WHO overview drawing on the 2025 report of the WHO Commission on Social Connection. Source of the shares of older people who are lonely (about 11.8%) or socially isolated (1 in 4), the 870,000 deaths a year linked to loneliness, and the main types of intervention.
World Health Organization (news release, 18 March 2021), published 2021
Release of the WHO-led Global report on ageism, the most recent global assessment. Source of the estimate that one in two people hold ageist attitudes, the 6.3 million depression cases linked to ageism, and the three strategies that work, including intergenerational contact.