demographic2024

Median Age by Country

The age dividing a population in half. Japan is oldest at 49.5 years, while Nigeria is youngest at 19 years.

Loading visualization...

Key Insights

Global Average
37.8 years
Median: 40.1 years
Countries Covered
35
with available data
Highest
Japan
49.5 years
Lowest
Nigeria
19.0 years
Top 5 Countries
1Japan49.5 years
2Italy48.0 years
3Germany47.8 years
4Portugal46.2 years
5Greece45.6 years
By Region
Europe44.4 years(13 countries)
Oceania38.1 years(1 countries)
North America36.4 years(3 countries)
Other36.3 years(2 countries)
Asia35.1 years(12 countries)
Key Findings
  • Japan (49.5) is the world's oldest major economy
  • China (39.0) is now older than the US (38.9)
  • Sub-Saharan Africa has the world's youngest populations

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (15.0 years)High (50.0 years)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 37.8 years)

Europe (13)
Oceania (1)
North America (3)
Other (2)
Asia (12)
South America (1)
Africa (3)

Correlation Analysis

Correlation Analysis

Median Age vs Life Expectancy

r = 0.88
Strong positive
Interpretation: There is a strong positive correlation between Median Age and Life Expectancy. Countries with higher values in one tend to have higher values in the other.

About This Statistic

Median age is a key demographic indicator that reveals whether a population is aging or youthful. It's the age where half the population is older and half is younger.

The world is splitting into the "Gray" (Europe, East Asia) and the "Young" (Africa). Japan and Germany face shrinking workforces and rising pension costs. China has aged past the US due to the One Child Policy, threatening its economic model before reaching high-income status.

Conversely, Africa's "youth bulge" offers a potential demographic dividend of labor supply, but without job creation, it risks fueling social unrest and migration. This demographic divergence will reshape global economics, migration patterns, and geopolitical power in the coming decades.

Methodology

The age that divides a population into two numerically equal groups.

Full Data

Rank Country Value
1Japan49.5 years
2Italy48.0 years
3Germany47.8 years
4Portugal46.2 years
5Greece45.6 years
6South Korea45.0 years
7Spain44.9 years
8Hungary44.8 years
9Austria44.5 years
10Czech Republic44.2 years
11Switzerland44.2 years
12Netherlands43.2 years
13Belgium42.0 years
14France41.7 years
15Canada41.1 years
16United Kingdom40.6 years
17Russian Federation40.3 years
18Thailand40.1 years
19Singapore39.4 years
20People's Republic of China39.0 years
21United States of America38.9 years
22Australia38.1 years
23United Arab Emirates33.5 years
24Brazil33.5 years
25Vietnam32.5 years
26Saudi Arabia32.4 years
27Türkiye32.2 years
28Indonesia31.1 years
29Mexico29.3 years
30India28.7 years
31South Africa28.0 years
32Bangladesh27.9 years
33Egypt24.8 years
34Pakistan22.0 years
35Nigeria19.0 years
Showing 35 of 35 countries

Topics

Related Statistics

Data Source

This data comes from UN Population Division / CIA World Factbook (2024).

View Original Source