For the first time in history, there are more elderly people on Earth than children

The number of people aged 65 and older has exceeded the number of children under the age of five for the first time in history due to low birth rates and increasing life expectancy worldwide.

This was reported by the Axios portal, citing a report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The global decline in birth rates and the increase in life expectancy are changing the established demographic balance between the working-age and older populations, the portal notes. According to projections, the number of people over the age of 65 will increase from 852 million in 2025 to 2 billion by 2060. The total world population is expected to reach 10.23 billion by 2060.

According to the report, in 2013, 45% of the world's population lived in countries with a birth rate at or below replacement level (2.1 children per woman). However, just 10 years later, in 2023, this figure rose to 71%. The bureau noted in the report that the world reached this milestone significantly earlier than demographers had predicted a decade ago.

The report states that currently China and India, the two most populous countries in the world, have birth rates below replacement level. In other countries with large populations, such as Bangladesh, Mexico, and Vietnam, birth rates have also fallen below this threshold since 2013.