Older people numbers projected to rise
1/5/2008
The number of older people living in Ireland is set to rise significantly in the coming decades, according to a new report.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that older people will account for over a fifth of the entire population - which itself is predicted to rise to about five million - by 2041.
There will be between 1.3 and 1.4 million over-65s living in Ireland by this date, compared with the 460,000 older people - 11 per cent of the population - recorded in 2006.
In addition, the number of over-80s is predicted to quadruple from 110,000 in 2006 to 440,000 in 2014, the CSO said.
Last month, Dr Patricia Kearney of Trinity College Dublin told a seminar hosted by the European commission in Dublin that Ireland's older population is likely to increase in the near future, despite numbers holding steady in recent times, Irish Health reports.
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