At EU level, the median age has increased by 2.1 years since 2015, when it was 42.8 years. Increases were recorded in all EU countries, except Germany and Malta (each -0.4 years).

 The ageing of the population was most pronounced in Slovakia and Cyprus, where the median increased by four years, followed by Italy (+3.9 years), Greece and Poland (each +3.8 years) and Portugal (+3.7 years).

 The population of the EU on January 01, 2025, was estimated at 450.6 million people. Children aged between 0 and 14 years made up 14.4 percent of the EU's population, while people considered to be of working age (15 to 64 years) accounted for 63.6 percent of the population.

 Older people (aged 65 years and over) had a 22 percent share (an increase of 0.4 percentage points (pp) compared with 2024 and an increase of 2.9 pp compared with 10 years earlier). For comparison, in 2024 the three population groups, children (0 to 14 years), working age (15 to 64 years) and older people (aged 65 years and over) represented, respectively, 14.6 percent, 63.8 percent and 21.6 percent of the EU's population.

 Across EU countries, the highest shares of children in the total population in 2025 were observed in Ireland (18.5 percent), Sweden (16.8 percent) and France (16.6 percent), while the lowest shares were recorded in Italy, (11.9 percent), Malta (12.1 percent) and Portugal (12.6 percent). Compared with 2024, only 2 EU countries (Luxembourg and Germany) had a constant share of children in the population in 2025, while in the other countries this share fell.

 Regarding the share of older people in the total population, Italy (24.7 percent), Portugal (24.3 percent) and Bulgaria (24 percent) had the highest shares, while Luxembourg (15.2 percent), Ireland (15.7 percent) and Cyprus (18.3 percent) had the lowest shares. In 2025, compared with 2024, the share of older people increased in 26 EU countries while Malta had a constant share.