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Poland is ageing fastest in the EU. The 50+ market in Europe and worldwide in 2026
Ten years ago Poland was clearly younger than the rest of the European Union. Today it has almost caught up with the EU average, and over the last decade it has aged faster than any other member state. We set the latest Eurostat data against what was calculated in 2026 about older people's spending worldwide.
Between 2015 and 2025, the share of people aged 65 and over in Poland's population rose from 15.4 to 21.0 per cent, an increase of 5.6 percentage points. According to Eurostat, this is the largest increase in the European Union. The EU average is now 22.0 per cent, so the gap between Poland and the EU, which was 3.7 points a decade ago, has shrunk to one.
How fast is Poland ageing compared with the EU?
The fastest of all member states. Behind Poland come Slovakia, with an increase of 4.8 points, and Croatia, with 4.3 points. Italy remains the oldest country in the EU, with people aged 65+ making up 24.7 per cent of its inhabitants, and Ireland the youngest, with 15.7 per cent.
| Indicator | EU 2015 | EU 2025 | Poland 2015 | Poland 2025 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share of people aged 65+ | 19.1% | 22.0% | 15.4% | 21.0% | Eurostat |
| Share of people aged 50–64 | 20.2% | 21.0% | 21.1% | 18.6% | Eurostat |
| Median age | 42.8 | 44.9 | 39.6 | 43.4 | Eurostat |
| Share of people aged 50+, total | 39.3% | 43.0% | 36.5% | 39.6% | Eurostat, sum by Silver TV |
Over this period the median age in Poland rose by 3.8 years, and in the EU as a whole by 2.1 years. Half of Poles are now older than 43.
One row of the table needs a comment. The share of the 50–64 group in Poland fell from 21.1 to 18.6 per cent, even though in the EU it rose slightly over the same period. Eurostat does not comment on this, so the explanation is ours: within a decade, the cohorts of the post-war baby boom moved from the 50–64 group into the 65+ group. Customers over fifty did not disappear, because the 50+ group as a whole grew from 36.5 to 39.6 per cent of the population.
increase in the share of people aged 65+ in Poland in 2015–2025, the highest in the EU
of people in Poland are 65+, against an EU average of 22.0%
of EU inhabitants are aged 50 or over
How much do older people spend worldwide?
World Data Lab estimates that in 2026 consumers worldwide will spend about $70 trillion, of which $19 trillion will come from people over 60. They are 15 per cent of the world's population and account for 27 per cent of consumer spending. By 2036 this amount is expected to grow to $34 trillion, close to one in three dollars spent.
The market for products and services designed with older people in mind is counted separately. According to the same source it is worth $4.5 trillion and is growing by 7 per cent a year in real terms, roughly twice as fast as consumer spending overall.
What does it look like in the United States?
There the group is counted from age 50, as we do. According to an AARP report from June 2026, people aged 50+ contributed $12.5 trillion to the US economy in 2024. There are 123 million of them, or 36 per cent of the population, and 54 million of them are in work. Their spending on communications and electronics rose by 62 per cent between 2018 and 2024.
What does this mean for brands in Poland?
From here on we write about our conclusion, not about the data. In Polish media plans, the 50+ market is still often described as the future. In the EU it is the present: people over fifty make up 43.0 per cent of its inhabitants. In Poland it is 39.6 per cent according to Eurostat and 39.9 per cent according to Statistics Poland (GUS) at the end of 2025, and this gap is closing faster than anywhere else in the EU.
A brand that plans a campaign as if Poland were a young country is relying on the population structure of a decade ago. How much this group spends in Poland we calculate in the dataset Poles aged 50+ in numbers: around PLN 30 billion a month.
The age structure data come from Eurostat (dataset demo_pjanind, updated on 25 September 2026) and describe the situation as of 1 January of the given year. The share of the 50+ group is the sum of two Eurostat indicators, calculated by Silver TV. GUS gives 39.9 per cent for Poland at the end of 2025 because it counts on a different date and with its own method; when comparing with the EU we use Eurostat, because it applies one method to all countries. The World Data Lab figures are a model estimate, not a measurement, they refer to people over 60, and in its summary the publisher does not say whether it calculates in constant prices or at purchasing power parity. The AARP press release does not describe its method. We do not convert the dollar amounts into złoty and we do not set them against the Polish spending calculation, because each one measures something different.
Sources
Eurostat, “Population structure and ageing”, Statistics Explained, data retrieved 2 February 2026 (share of people aged 65+ in the EU, increase in 2015–2025 by country, Italy and Ireland) - ec.europa.eu
Eurostat, dataset demo_pjanind “Population structure indicators at national level”, updated 25 September 2026 (share of the 50–64 and 65+ groups, median age, EU and Poland, 2015 and 2025) - ec.europa.eu
World Data Lab, A. Kiknadze, R. Leggett, “The Silver Economy: A $19 Trillion Market Growing to $34 Trillion by 2036”, 1 July 2026 (spending by people aged 60+ worldwide) - worlddatalab.com
World Data Lab, NielsenIQ, Silver Economy, “Spending Longer and Living More” (the report on which the summary is based) - worlddatalab.com
AARP, “Longevity Economy Outlook”, press release of 2 June 2026 (the economy of people aged 50+ in the US, data for 2024) - aarp.org
Statistics Poland (GUS), „Ludność. Stan i struktura oraz ruch naturalny w przekroju terytorialnym w 2025 r. Stan w dniu 31 grudnia” [“Population. Size and structure and vital statistics by territorial division in 2025. As of 31 December”], table 1 (share of people aged 50+ 39.9 per cent; the sum of age groups calculated by Silver TV) - stat.gov.pl
We share this compilation under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Please cite it as: silver-marketing.pl, Silver TV, with a link to this page. For Eurostat data, cite Eurostat directly, and us for the compilation.
Quick answers
Which EU country is ageing fastest?
Poland. According to Eurostat, the share of people aged 65 and over in Poland rose by 5.6 percentage points between 2015 and 2025, from 15.4 to 21.0 per cent. This is the largest increase in the EU, ahead of Slovakia and Croatia.
What percentage of EU inhabitants are aged 65 and over?
22.0 per cent as of 1 January 2025, out of 450.6 million inhabitants. In 2015 it was 19.1 per cent.
How much do people over 60 spend worldwide?
About $19 trillion in 2026, or 27 per cent of global consumer spending, while they make up 15 per cent of the population. This is a World Data Lab estimate from July 2026.
What is the median age in Poland?
43.4 years as of 1 January 2025 according to Eurostat, compared with 39.6 years in 2015. The median for the EU as a whole is 44.9 years.
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