Global Median Age

The world's population median age continues to increase, due to an ageing population and declining birth rates. In 2024, the global median age is recorded at 30.7 years of age. A 0.81% increase from 2023, when the population median age only was 30.5 years. If we look further into the future we can see that the global median age is projected to increase to 42.3 years of age, by the year 2100. A total increase of the global median age by 37.62% from today's standard.

Historic Global Median Age (1950-2024)

Between 1950 and 2024, the global median age have increased from 22.2 to 30.7 years of age. This increase can be atributed to an increase of life expectancy and a decrease in birth rates. Advances in medical technology and overall public health have led to an increase in life expectancy, which means more people are living longer. Additionally, global birth rates are trending downwards due to a variety of factors such as increased access to birth control and women delaying having children until later in life, thus fewer children are born. This results in an ageing global population with a higher median age overall.

Future Global Median Age (2024-2100)

From the year 2024 and onward the global population median age is projected to increase even further. By the year 2100 it is projected to be 42.3 years of age. A median age of the global population that is 11.6 years higher than today.

Understanding the Concept and Importance of Median Age

The population median age is defined as the age that divides the population in two parts of equal size, that is, there are as many persons with ages above the median as there are with ages below the median. The metric is widely used as an international standard for measuring the age distribution of a population by demographers, statisticians, and researchers. The United Nations and the World Bank record median age estimates for countries worldwide. Some of this data is used on this page to vizualize hand help you explore age distribution among regions, countries and income groups.

What is Median Age?

Median is a statistical measure that is used to determine the middle value of a set of data, when arranged in numerical order. It is most commonly used to measure central tendency in datasets. The median age of a population, thus, indicates the age of the person in the middle of a population. The messurement is sometimes confused with mean age, which is calculated by summing the ages of all individuals in the population and dividing by the total number of individuals. Even though mean age and median age are both measures of central tendency, the mean indicates the average, while median indicates the middle age of a populous. Some third-world countries also tend to round their ages to a multiple of 5 or 10 when recording age data. Thus the median age is better metric to understand the composition of a population and how it changes over time.

• Median age is a statistical measure used to determine the age at which half of a population is older and half is younger.
• The median age of a population is affected by mortality rate, fertility rate and migration.
• An increase in life expectancy will increase the median age of the population.
• A decrease in birth rates will also increase the median age of the population.
• An aging population with a higher median age can have economic and social implications.
• The median age can vary greatly between different countries and regions.
• The median age of a population can change over time as fertility and mortality rates change.
• The median age of the population can be an important indicator of the overall demographic makeup of a population.

How is Median Age calculated?

The median age is calculated by arranging all the ages of people in a population, in numerical order, from lowest to highest. From this set of numbers, the middle value is identified. If the population has an odd number of individuals, the median age will be the middle value. If the population has an even number of individuals, the median age will be the average of the two middle values.

Median Age Calculation Example

Let's say we have a population of 10 individuals with the following ages: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70. We would first need to arrange the ages in numerical order: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70. Since the population has an even number of individuals, the median age will be the average of the two middle values: (45 + 50) / 2 = 47.5

In this example, the median age of the population is 47.5 years. It means that half of the population is older than 47.5 and half of the population is younger than 47.5.

Median Age by Country

Median Age by Region

Median Age by Sub-region

Data Information

Data found on this page is based on the medium fertility variant of the United Nations Revision of World Population Prospects 2022.

Data Sources

The United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs (Population Division)

UN Revision of World Population Prospects 2022

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