In recent years, Poland has seen an increasing ageing of the population. The share of older people in the population of Poland is systematically increasing.
At the end of 2021, the number of people aged 60 and over was 9.7 million and increased by 0.2% compared to the previous year. The proportion of older people in the Polish population reached 25.7%. According to the forecast of the Central Statistical Office, the population of people aged 60 and over in Poland is expected to increase to 10.8 million in 2030 and reach 13.7 million in 2050. The elderly will account for approximately 40% of Poland’s total population.
The majority of senior citizens reside in urban areas. In 2021, the urbanisation rate for people aged 60 and over will stand at 64.3%. Among urban residents, people of senior citizens age senior citizens accounted for 27.7%, and among those living in rural areas, the proportion of seniors was 22.7%.
The senior population is dominated by women. In 2021, the share of women in the elderly population was 58,2%. Among those aged 60 and over, there were 139 women for every 100 men.
In 2021, the projected life expectancy of a male newborn was 71.8 years, while that of a female was 79.7 years. Compared to the previous year, there was a deterioration in this indicator in both cases. For women, the decrease was higher than for men (by 1.0 and 0.8 years, respectively).
In 2021. 7809 thousand people aged 60-89 were economically inactive (i.e. 84.4%). The number of people of this age who were economically active was 1442 thousand. The economic activity rate of people aged 60-89 was 15.6%. The employment rate among seniors was 15.4%.
In 2021, among the total working population aged 60 and over, 38.5% had an established right to an old-age pension (a decrease of 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous year). Among older people doing work on the basis of civil law contracts, the percentage of those with an established right to a pension increased slightly compared to the previous year and reached 70.4%.