Healthy aging is becoming a larger public-health priority as the number of older adults grows worldwide. The statistics below distinguish global WHO estimates and projections from U.S. survey measures collected in specific years.
Contents
- Global population aging
- Longevity and healthy life expectancy
- Physical activity among U.S. older adults
- Chronic conditions and functional health
- Falls and injury risk
- Oral health and supportive services
Global population aging
The scale of population aging is changing the demand for wellness guidance, preventive care, accessible environments, and long-term support. The World Health Organization reported that about 1 billion people worldwide were aged 60 years or older in 2020. In that same year, people aged 60 or older outnumbered children younger than 5 years worldwide (WHO, “Ageing and health”).
WHO projections show how quickly that population is expected to expand:
| Measure | Year or period | Estimate or projection |
|---|---|---|
| People aged 60 or older worldwide | 2020 | About 1 billion |
| People aged 60 or older worldwide | 2030 | 1.4 billion projected |
| Share of the global population aged 60 or older | 2030 | 1 in 6 projected |
| People aged 60 or older worldwide | 2050 | 2.1 billion projected |
| People aged 80 or older worldwide | 2050 | 426 million projected |
The share of the world’s population aged over 60 is projected to rise from 12% in 2015 to 22% in 2050. By 2050, about two-thirds of people aged 60 or older are projected to live in low- and middle-income countries. A separate WHO measurement report projects that more than 80% of people aged 60 or older will live in low- and middle-income countries in 2050; the difference reflects the report’s stated measure and wording (WHO, “Ageing and health”; WHO, “Measuring the progress and impact of the Decade of Healthy Ageing, 2021–2030”).
The number of people aged 80 or older is projected to reach 426 million by 2050, about triple the 2020 number. Japan provides a current example of a highly aged population: about 30% of its population was reported as being over 60 in the latest figure included by WHO, dated 2025. The WHO Decade of Healthy Ageing runs from 2021 through 2030 and is organized around four action areas.
Longevity and healthy life expectancy
Population aging is not only about how many people reach older ages. It also raises the question of how many years people live and how many of those years are lived in good health. The global population aged 60 or older was approximately 1.1 billion in 2023, and this group is projected to represent 22% of the world’s population in 2050 (WHO, “Measuring the progress and impact of the Decade of Healthy Ageing, 2021–2030”).
Global life expectancy at age 60 was 19.6 additional years in 2021. That is a population-level estimate, not a promise for an individual. In the same year, global health-adjusted life expectancy at age 60 was 14.7 years. The gap between these measures illustrates why healthy aging statistics need both longevity and health-adjusted measures.
Global life expectancy at age 60 fell by 1.4 years in 2021 during the COVID-19 period, returning to approximately its 2006 level. This is a historical comparison, not a current forecast. The figures also show why measurement year matters when comparing healthy-aging indicators across reports.
Physical activity among U.S. older adults
Physical activity is one measurable part of healthy aging, but the U.S. data show that meeting both federal aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines was uncommon among adults aged 65 or older in 2022. The age-adjusted share was 13.9% during leisure time (CDC National Center for Health Statistics, “Characteristics of Older Adults Who Met Federal Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans: United States, 2022”).
The federal aerobic guideline used in that report was 150–300 minutes of moderate activity or 75–150 minutes of vigorous activity per week, plus muscle-strengthening activity on at least 2 days per week. The report applied a 2018 guideline to 2022 data.
Meeting both guidelines declined with age:
- 16.8% of adults aged 65–74 met both guidelines.
- 12.3% of adults aged 75–84 met both guidelines.
- 6.2% of adults aged 85 or older met both guidelines.
The 2022 U.S. results also varied by sex, race and Hispanic origin, location, region, income, and education. Among adults aged 65 or older, 16.9% of men met both guidelines, compared with 11.5% of women. The shares were 15.2% among non-Hispanic White adults, 10.2% among non-Hispanic Black adults, 10.3% among Hispanic adults, and 12.2% among non-Hispanic Asian adults.
Geography and socioeconomic measures showed additional differences. The share was 14.7% in metropolitan areas versus 10.0% in nonmetropolitan areas. By region, the shares were 17.0% in the West, 14.4% in the Midwest, 13.2% in the Northeast, and 12.0% in the South.
Among adults aged 65 or older, 6.4% of those with family income below 100% of the federal poverty level met both guidelines, compared with 21.4% among those at 400% or more. The education difference was also large: 4.5% among people with less than a high-school diploma or GED versus 25.6% among those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Health status, disability, chronic conditions, mental health, and weight were associated with different activity levels in the survey. The share meeting both guidelines was 21.8% among adults reporting excellent or very good health, compared with 4.5% among those reporting fair or poor health. It was 19.3% among those with 0–1 chronic conditions and 7.8% among those with 4 or more.
Among adults without disabilities, 15.9% met both guidelines, compared with 5.0% among those with disabilities. The corresponding figures were 15.6% for people with no depression symptoms and 4.7% for those with moderate or severe depression symptoms. For anxiety, the figures were 14.8% and 5.4%. By weight classification, 19.1% of adults at a healthy weight met both guidelines, compared with 8.3% of adults classified as obese.
Chronic conditions and functional health
Chronic conditions are common in later life, and the available U.S. measures should be read in context. The following figures describe noninstitutionalized adults aged 85 or older in 2022–2023 and cover conditions captured consistently in the National Health Interview Survey. They do not represent every possible health condition or people living in institutions (CDC National Center for Health Statistics, “New Reports Examine Chronic Conditions and Fall Deaths Among Older Adults in the U.S.”).
Among U.S. adults aged 85 or older, 66.9% reported hypertension, 55.9% reported arthritis, and 46.5% reported high cholesterol. In addition, 37.3% reported four or more of 11 selected chronic conditions, while 7.4% reported none of those 11 conditions.
A broader U.S. health-status measure found that 25.1% of adults aged 65 or older reported fair or poor health in 2019. Health status also differed by income: 24.6% of people below 100% of the federal poverty level reported fair or poor health, compared with 5.3% of those at 400% or more (CDC National Center for Health Statistics, “Health Status - Health, United States”).
These results are descriptive associations and prevalence measures. They do not by themselves show that one factor caused another, and the 2019 health-status figures should not be treated as interchangeable with the 2022–2023 chronic-condition figures.
Falls and injury risk
Falls are a major later-life safety measure. The U.S. unintentional fall death rate among adults aged 65 or older was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 population in 2023. State rates ranged from 29.5 per 100,000 in Alabama to 158.4 per 100,000 in Wisconsin, showing substantial geographic variation (CDC National Center for Health Statistics, “New Reports Examine Chronic Conditions and Fall Deaths Among Older Adults in the U.S.”).
A separate CDC QuickStats report measured 2024 rates by sex. The unintentional fall death rate was 74.8 per 100,000 among men aged 65 or older and 66.6 per 100,000 among women. In 2024, rates increased with age and were highest among people aged 85 or older (CDC, “QuickStats: Death Rates from Unintentional Falls Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years, by Sex and Age Group — United States, 2024”).
The 2023 and 2024 statistics use different measurement years, so they should not be combined into a single trend estimate. They do, however, consistently identify falls as an important later-life injury and mortality measure.
Oral health and supportive services
Preventive care access is another part of healthy aging. In 2022, 63.7% of U.S. adults aged 65 or older had a dental visit during the previous 12 months. The percentage was 64.9% among women and 62.3% among men (CDC National Center for Health Statistics, “Dental Care Among Adults Age 65 and Older: United States, 2022”).
Dental-visit prevalence declined with age: 65.4% at ages 65–74, 63.6% at ages 75–84, and 53.3% at age 85 or older. It was 68.1% among non-Hispanic White adults, 53.4% among non-Hispanic Black adults, 51.8% among non-Hispanic Asian adults, and 48.0% among Hispanic adults.
Income, education, coverage, health status, and diabetes were also associated with different dental-visit rates. Prevalence ranged from 35.3% among adults below 100% of the federal poverty level to 80.5% among those above 400%. It ranged from 33.3% among adults with less than a high-school diploma or GED to 82.0% among those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Among adults aged 65 or older, 69.6% with dental coverage had a dental visit, compared with 56.4% without coverage. The share was 69.5% among people in excellent, very good, or good health and 44.5% among those in fair or poor health. It was 55.1% among adults with diabetes and 65.9% among those without diabetes.
Supportive services reach a more specific population than national household surveys. In 2022, about 3,100 adult day services centers served approximately 182,000 participants in the United States. About 68% of participants were aged 65 or older, about 80% needed assistance with at least one of six activities of daily living, and about 79% had some or all services paid by Medicaid (CDC National Center for Health Statistics, “Adult Day Services Centers: United States, 2022”). These figures describe adult day services users, not all older adults.
The global projections are WHO estimates or forecasts, while the U.S. figures come from nationally representative civilian noninstitutionalized household surveys unless a narrower service-user population is identified. Keeping those scopes, dates, and populations separate is essential when interpreting healthy aging statistics.