International Day of Older Persons

1. October, International Day of Older Persons

The share of older persons in Slovenia is growing. On 1 January this year, it was twice as large as in 1991. Last year, the highest share of older persons in the EU was recorded in Italy (24%) and the lowest in Luxembourg (15%). Last year, 175 grooms and 60 brides in Slovenia were 65+ years old. 

  • 25 September 2024 at 10:30
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This year marks 34 years since in 1990 the United Nations General Assembly declared 1 October the International Day of Older Persons, i.e. persons aged 65+. Population projections show that the number of persons aged 65+ will more than double: from 761 million in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2050. The number of persons aged 80+ is growing even faster. 

The number of older persons is growing 

At the beginning of the year, 462,512 residents of Slovenia were 65+ years old. This was twice as many as when our country won independence in 1991. At that time, the share of older persons was 11% of total population, while this year it was 22%. The number of centenarians, i.e. persons aged 100+, is growing even faster. At the beginning of 2024, there were 386, which is almost 15-times as many as in 1991. As regards centenarians, at the beginning of this year, 62 were men and 324 were women. 

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Among EU Member States, last year the share of persons aged 65+ was the highest in Italy (24%) and the lowest in Luxembourg (15%). Slovenia was just above the EU average. 

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More than a third of persons aged 85+ live alone 

The household status of persons changes with age. While in 2021 almost two-thirds of persons aged 65–69 years were living with spouses or partners, at age 85+ the share was just over a fifth. On the other hand, 1% of persons aged 65–69 years were living in institutional households (including old people’s homes), while the share for persons aged 85+ was 15%. 

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Among older persons last year 175 grooms and 60 brides

The number of marriages of older persons is slowly increasing. In the past thirty years, the highest number of grooms aged 65+ (175) was recorded last year, and of brides (86) a year earlier. Last year, the highest share of grooms aged 65+ (34%) married brides aged 65+, while 15% of grooms aged 65+ married brides younger than 50 years. On the other hand, older brides in most cases (85%) married older grooms. 

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Older persons are also divorcing. Last year, 309 men (14% of all) and 197 women (9% of all) who divorced were 60+ years old. Most of them divorced spouses in the same age group: 58% of husbands aged 60+ divorced wives of the same age, while the share for wives aged 60+ divorcing husbands of the same age was 90%. 

Older persons less educated than the average 

Last year, 22% of Slovenia’s population aged 15+ had basic education or less, while among persons aged 65+ the share was 35%. It was exactly the opposite as regards tertiary education. The share in total population was 26% and among older persons 15%. Among older persons, there are significant gender differences in the level of education: the share of women with basic education or less is almost 22 percentage points higher than the share of men with the same level of education, and it is the opposite as regards upper secondary and tertiary education. 

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Older persons represent 1.5% of persons in employment

Last year, 13,900 persons in employment in Slovenia were 65+ years old, which was 1.5% of all persons in employment. Among older persons in employment, 9,919 (71%) were men and 3,981 (29%) were women. The most common occupation performed by older persons in employment was dairy and livestock producer.

Last year, 635,012 persons in Slovenia were pension recipients; most of them (76%) were receiving old-age pensions. The average old-age pension amounted to EUR 823 net. The average age of new old-age pension recipients was 62 years and 9 months for men and 61 years and 8 months for women.

Older persons increasingly use the Internet and mobile phones 

The number of older Internet users (65–74 years) is growing. In 2007, the share of those who had already used the Internet was 8% and last year 71%. 

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The use of mobile phones is also growing. Last year, 98% of all persons in Slovenia aged 16–74 years used mobile phones, while the share among older persons (65–74 years) was only 2 percentage points lower. Among older persons, there were more users of mobile phones with only basic functions (22 p.p. more). There are larger differences as regards using smart phones. Compared to smart phone users aged 16–74 years, older persons were using much less social networks (33 p.p. fewer), maps and navigation (29 p.p. fewer) and sent or received e-mails via smart phones (28 p.p. fewer). 

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When making use of the data and information of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, always add: "Source: SURS". More: Copyright.