Human Development - Demography

Population by Age and Sex, 1950 - 2050; Proportion of Elderly, Working Age Population, and Children

Note: This animation was produced with the author's DemoGraphics '06 program. Please note that all three pyramids use the same scale (which explains, why the population pyramids of Europe and the US are so much "thinner" than that of China.

Source: United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects, 2002 Revision (Medium Variant, Shared Scaling)

These animations visualize the dramatic change in the age structures of China, Europe and the United States of America between 1950 and 2050. In that 100-year period the population in all three countries/regions will transform from young age composition to an aging age structure. The process is particularly significant in China and Europe. Surprisingly, the process of population aging is much less dramatic in the United States of America than in China or Europe - both due to higher fertility and a large number of (young) immigrants.