Age structure

The UK's population pyramid is no longer a pyramid. Fifty years ago, it was, with large numbers of people in the youngest age groups, and very few people at the top.

In 1971, there were 4.6 million children under 5. By 2025, that had fallen to 3.5 million. The largest age groups are people in their 30s and late 50s, born during the baby booms of the 1960s and around 1990.

The top of the pyramid, has grown: the number of people aged 90 and over has risen fivefold, from 127,000 in 1971 to 645,000 in 2025.

If we look to the future, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) projects that the pyramid will become more like a column, as the large generations born in the 1960s reach old age and fewer babies are born.

The chart shows the population by age group, with the ONS's medium projects through to the 2070s.

In 2025, 12.3 million people in the UK were under 16, down from 14.3 million in 1971. Over the same period, the number aged 65 and over increased by more than 80%, and the number aged 80 and over almost tripled.

Since 2020, there have been more people aged 65 and over than children under 16.

In 2025, 19.4% of the UK's population was aged 65 or over, up from 11.1% in 1953. 5.3% were 80 or over, up from 1.6%.

The ONS projects that by 2074, almost 30% of the population will be 65 or over, and 12% will be 80 or over.

The median age of the population gives us a simple measure of its age distribution. The median age is the age at which half of the population are older, and half are younger.

In 1975, this was around 34 years. Today, it's around 41 years.

The ONS projects it will reach 50 years by 2074.

Dependency ratios compare the number of children and older people with the number of people of working age.

In 2025, there were 31 people aged 65 and over for every 100 working age adults. This is an increase from 22 per 100 in 1971.

There were 28 children per 100 working age adults, down from 42.

The total dependency ratio is 59 per 100, which is lower than it was in the 1970s, because there are fewer children. But this is projected to rise to 75 by 2074, as the old-age ratio increases.

Wales and Scotland have slightly older populations than England and Northern Ireland: the median age was 43.2 in Wales and 43.1 in Scotland in 2025, against 40.6 in England and Northern Ireland.

In the map, you can see the median age across local authorities. The oldest areas tend to be rural and coastal: North Norfolk had the highest median age, at 56.5, followed by East Lindsey (54.7) and Rother (54.4).

The youngest are cities with students and younger workers, such as Manchester (30.6), Tower Hamlets (30.8) and Oxford (31.7).

What are the shares of older populations across local authorities?

The map shows the share aged 65 and over. You can use the dropdown to look at the shares aged 80 and over, as well as the dependency ratios.

Population estimates by age come from ONS's mid-year estimates, which start from each census and are updated each year with births, deaths and migration. They count people who usually live in the UK, on 30 June each year. ONS's estimates by single year of age start in 1971; earlier figures use five-year age groups.

Projections come from ONS's 2024-based national population projections. The figures here are its principal projection, which assumes net migration of 230,000 a year from mid-2027, a fertility rate of around 1.4 children per woman and rising life expectancy. Projections are not forecasts.

Dependency ratios here use fixed ages (16 to 64 for working age, 65 and over for older people), so they can be compared over time. ONS's own old-age dependency ratio uses the State Pension age instead, which is rising.