The proportion of people in Denmark who are 80 years of age or older will increase from 5.7 percent today to 8 percent in 2039.
The number and proportion of Danes living beyond 80 years is increasing.
Today, this age group makes up 5.7 percent, but in just 14 years – in 2039 – they will make up 8 percent of the population.
And if we look ahead to 2070, there will be 650,000 people or 10.3 percent of the population who are 80 years of age or older.
This shows a projection of the future population base in Denmark, which Statistics Denmark has made.
The figures, if they are correct, will pose a challenge for public finances in the future, assesses Tore Stramer, chief economist at the Danish Business Association.
The elderly are typically more often in contact with the healthcare system and most often receive a state pension.
“It is also challenging that there will be virtually no more people in the age group 20 to 64 in 2030 who will pay a very large portion of total tax revenue, because it is during these years that people are primarily connected to the labor market,” says Tore Stramer.
Helle Dalsgaard, chief advisor at Sampension, notes, however, that many more people than before are saving for retirement via labor market pensions.
This helps to ease the pension pressure on public funds.
Helle Dalsgaard nevertheless urges that you ensure that your pension savings can last longer than you might expect.
“Because even though Danes are generally saving more and more, the longer lifespan means that, all else being equal, the savings must also last for several years, which can have an impact on the standard of living as a pensioner,” she says.
Statistics Denmark’s projection is based on some assumptions and assumptions about how immigration, mortality and fertility will develop, and that the development from recent years will continue.
Therefore, it is subject to a certain degree of uncertainty and does not necessarily cover everything precisely.
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