Europe became older almost everywhere
Across comparable countries in the dataset, the average median age increased by 6.5 years between 2000 and 2025.
Median age across Europe
Population ageing and Europe’s changing age structure
This page tracks the median age of population across European countries from 2000 to 2025. Median age is the age that divides the population into two equally sized groups: half of the population is younger and half is older.
The time series highlights one of Europe’s most important long-term demographic shifts. Across the countries with data available for both 2000 and 2025, the average median age increased from 37.1 years to 43.5 years. Ageing was widespread, but the pace differed sharply between countries.
Explore the data
Key insights
Southern and South-Eastern Europe aged fastest
Portugal, Romania and Italy recorded some of the largest long-term increases in median age.
The youngest populations remain in the north-west and island economies
Iceland, Ireland and Luxembourg had the lowest median ages in 2025.
Key comparisons
Selected highlights from the median age dataset, 2000–2025.
Extended analysis
1) Median age increased across Europe
Across countries with data available in both 2000 and 2025, the average median age increased from 37.1 years to 43.5 years. This rise of 6.5 years shows how strongly Europe’s age structure has shifted over the past quarter-century.
The increase reflects long-term demographic forces such as lower fertility, longer life expectancy and changes in migration patterns. The median age indicator summarizes these forces in a simple way by showing where the middle of the population’s age distribution lies.
2) The oldest populations are concentrated in Southern and South-Eastern Europe
In 2025, the highest median ages in the dataset were recorded in Italy (49.1 years), Bulgaria (47.3 years), Portugal (47.3 years), Greece (47.2 years) and Spain (45.8 years).
These countries illustrate how sustained low fertility and the ageing of large post-war generations can push the population structure toward older age groups.
3) The youngest populations remained below or near 40 years
The lowest median ages in 2025 were recorded in Iceland (37.2 years), Ireland (39.6 years), Luxembourg (39.8 years), Malta (40.0 years) and Norway (40.8 years).
Younger age structures can reflect a combination of relatively higher fertility, recent migration, economic attractiveness and smaller population size in some countries.
4) The fastest ageing occurred in countries with large long-term increases
Between 2000 and 2025, the largest increases in median age were recorded in Portugal (+9.8 years), Romania (+9.7 years), Liechtenstein (+9.2 years), Slovakia (+9.1 years) and Italy (+9.0 years).
These changes show that ageing is not only about the latest level of median age. Some countries moved rapidly from relatively young population structures toward much older ones over a single generation.
5) Ageing was slower in several northern and high-income countries
The smallest increases between 2000 and 2025 were recorded in Sweden (+1.9 years), Luxembourg (+2.5 years), Belgium (+3.4 years), Malta (+3.7 years) and Denmark (+4.0 years).
Slower increases do not mean that ageing is absent. They show that age structures can be moderated by migration, fertility patterns and demographic momentum from earlier population trends.
How to read this indicator
Median age is the age that divides the population into two numerically equal groups. If a country has a median age of 45 years, half of its population is younger than 45 and half is older. Median age is different from average age and is less affected by very old or very young outliers. It is useful for comparing population ageing across countries, but it does not show the detailed age distribution by itself.
Data for Croatia are available from 2001 onwards. Comparisons covering the full 2000–2025 period therefore include only countries with data available for both the first and last year of the period. Croatia is excluded from rankings and averages covering the full period.