Southern European countries have the highest proportion of people in the EU aged 80 or more.
Across the EU, nearly 27 million people had already celebrated their 80th birthdays when the data was collected in 2015. This was seven million more in the decade from 2005.
An increase in absolute numbers and share in total population occurred in almost every EU country in the last ten years.
Italy is home to Europe’s oldest population where 6.5% were octogenarians in 2015, according to Eurostat.
Greece was not far behind with 6.3% of its population being over 80 years. It was also the country with the largest increase in its older population in the course of the last decade.
Portugal, Spain and France clustered close together, with an average of 5.8% each of people aged 80 or more in the population. This is against an EU average of 5.3%.
Official data recorded 595,570 Portuguese residents of 80+ in 2015. The greater proportion (65%) was female.
In 2005, the number stood at 410,825 which was 4% of Portugal’s total population.
Ireland and Slovakia were the two EU countries which had the lowest proportion of elderly people at just 3% each.
Life expectancy in Portugal for those aged 80 is 8 more years for men and 10 more for women. This is just slightly below the EU average of 8 years and 5 months for men and 10 years and 2 months for women.
France is the nation where 80-year-olds have the longest life expectancy of 11 years. Spain has the second greatest promise of long life, namely ten years and four months.
Eurostat reports a four year gap in life expectancy across the EU from the lengths in France and Spain to the lowest rates in Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia.
