Number of people over 65 in Costa Rica will triple over next 40 years

March 21^st, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) The number of people over 65 will triple in Costa Rica by 2050, while children under 15 years of age will be reduced, according to projections released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC).

 

“The size of this population (over 65 years) will triple over the next 40 years, from 316,000 people in 2012 to over 1 million in 2050,” the INEC said in a statement based on the 2011 census.

 

Currently, those 65 and older represent 7% of Costa Rica’s 4.5 million inhabitants.  By 2050, INEC estimates those 65 and older will represent 16.4% of an estimated 6.1 million population.

 

INEC also projects that those under 15 years of age, which numbered 1.12 million in 2012 or 25% of the population, will drop to 956,000 or 15.6% of the population by 2050.

 

INEC said that population projections are an essential foundation for planning economic and social activity in the country, such as health services.

 

 

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