These are the world's oldest and youngest countries, by median age
The median age is a single indicator of the age distribution of a population - where half the population is older and half is younger than the listed age.
It can help government and private companies plan for age-specific demand for goods and services from the resident population.
In the chart below, Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao visualizes the worldโs oldest and youngest countries by median age, based on 2024 estimates from the CIA World Factbook.
Ranked: Countries by Median Age in 2024
Monaco and Japan - two countries with high life expectancies and low birth rates -`have some of the highest median ages (50+) in the world.
A high median age is indicative of an aging population. Without policy support, this can lead to economic ramifications.
Here are the median ages of 200+ countries and territories in the world.
RankCountry/TerritoryMedian Age
1๐ฒ๐จ Monaco57
2๐ต๐ฒ Saint Pierre & Miquelon51
3๐ฏ๐ต Japan50
4๐ฆ๐ฉ Andorra49
5๐ฎ๐น Italy48
6๐ง๐ฑ Saint Barthelemy47
7๐ญ๐ฐ Hong Kong47
8๐ช๐ธ Spain47
9๐ฉ๐ช Germany47
10๐ฌ๐ท Greece47
11๐ต๐น Portugal46
12๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia46
13๐ต๐ท Puerto Rico46
14๐ธ๐ฒ San Marino46
15๐ฐ๐ท South Korea46
16๐ท๐ด Romania46
17๐ฑ๐ป Latvia46
18๐ฑ๐น Lithuania45
19๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria45
20๐ญ๐ท Croatia45
21๐ธ๐ญ Saint Helena45
22๐ช๐ช Estonia45
23๐ฌ๐ฌ Guernsey45
24๐ฆ๐น Austria45
25๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine45
26๐ฎ๐ฒ Isle of Man45
27๐ญ๐บ Hungary45
28๐ง๐ฆ Bosnia & Herzegovina45
29๐น๐ผ Taiwan45
30๐ฑ๐ฎ Liechtenstein44
31๐จ๐ฟ Czechia44
32๐จ๐ญ Switzerland44
33๐ท๐ธ Serbia44
34๐ง๐ฒ Bermuda44
35๐ฒ๐น Malta44
36๐ซ๐ฎ Finland43
37๐ป๐ฎ Virgin Islands43
38๐ต๐ฑ Poland43
39๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia43
40๐จ๐ฆ Canada43
41๐ซ๐ท France43
42๐จ๐บ Cuba43
43๐ฒ๐ด Macau43
44๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands42
45๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark42
46๐ง๐พ Belarus42
47๐ง๐ช Belgium42
48๐ท๐บ Russia42
49๐น๐ญ Thailand42
50๐ง๐ง Barbados41
51๐ฐ๐พ Cayman Islands41
52๐ธ๐ช Sweden41
53๐จ๐ฐ Cook Islands41
54๐ฒ๐ช Montenegro41
55๐ธ๐ฝ Sint Maarten41
56๐ฆ๐ผ Aruba41
57๐ณ๐ด Norway41
58๐ฌ๐ง UK41
59๐ฒ๐ฐ North Macedonia41
60๐ฎ๐ช Ireland40
61๐จ๐ณ China40
62๐จ๐จ Cocos (Keeling) Islands40
63๐ฒ๐ฉ Moldova40
64๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg40
65๐ฑ๐จ Saint Lucia40
66๐ฒ๐บ Mauritius40
67๐จ๐พ Cyprus40
68๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore39
69๐บ๐ธ U.S.39
70๐ฆ๐ฒ Armenia39
71๐ธ๐จ Seychelles39
72๐ฐ๐ณ Saint Kitts & Nevis39
73๐น๐น Trinidad & Tobago39
74๐ป๐ฌ British Virgin Islands39
75๐ฌ๐ช Georgia38
76๐ฏ๐ช Jersey38
77๐ฆ๐บ Australia38
78๐จ๐ฝ Christmas Island38
79๐ฎ๐ธ Iceland38
80๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand38
81๐จ๐ผ Curacao38
82๐ป๐จ Saint Vincent & the Grenadines38
83๐ฆ๐ฎ Anguilla37
84๐ฉ๐ฒ Dominica37
85๐จ๐ฑ Chile37
86๐ซ๐ด Faroe Islands37
87๐ฒ๐ธ Montserrat37
88๐ฌ๐ฎ Gibraltar37
89๐บ๐พ Uruguay37
90๐ฑ๐ง Lebanon36
91๐ฆ๐ฑ Albania36
92๐ผ๐ซ Wallis and Futuna36
93๐น๐จ Turks and Caicos Islands36
94๐ฐ๐ต North Korea36
95๐ฆ๐ช United Arab Emirates36
96๐จ๐ท Costa Rica36
97๐ฌ๐ฉ Grenada35
98๐ต๐ซ French Polynesia35
99๐ต๐ผ Palau35
100๐ฌ๐ฑ Greenland35
101๐ง๐ท Brazil35
102๐น๐ณ Tunisia34
103๐ณ๐จ New Caledonia34
104๐ฆ๐ฟ Azerbaijan34
105๐ถ๐ฆ Qatar34
106๐ฒ๐ซ Saint Martin34
107๐ฑ๐ฐ Sri Lanka34
108๐น๐ท Tรผrkiye34
109๐ฆ๐ฌ Antigua and Barbuda34
110๐ฎ๐ท Iran34
111๐ง๐ญ Bahrain33
112๐ฆ๐ท Argentina33
113๐ป๐ณ Vietnam33
114๐จ๐ด Colombia33
115๐ธ๐ฆ Saudi Arabia32
116๐ฒ๐ต Northern Mariana Islands32
117๐ง๐ณ Brunei32
118๐ธ๐ท Suriname32
119๐ฝ๐ฐ Kosovo32
120๐ฒ๐ป Maldives32
121๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan32
122๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia32
123๐ต๐พ Paraguay32
124๐ซ๐ฏ Fiji32
125๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesia32
126๐ฒ๐ณ Mongolia32
127๐ต๐ฆ Panama32
128๐น๐ฒ Turkmenistan31
129๐ป๐ช Venezuela31
130๐ฏ๐ฒ Jamaica31
131๐ฒ๐ฒ Burma31
132๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico31
133๐ง๐ธ Bahamas31
134๐ง๐น Bhutan31
135๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco31
136๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa30
137๐ฌ๐บ Guam30
138๐ฐ๐ผ Kuwait30
139๐ต๐ช Peru30
140๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel30
141๐ฆ๐ธ American Samoa30
142๐ฎ๐ณ India30
143๐ธ๐ป El Salvador30
144๐ง๐ฉ Bangladesh30
145๐ฉ๐ด Dominican Republic29
146๐ฉ๐ฟ Algeria29
147๐ณ๐ฎ Nicaragua29
148๐บ๐ฟ Uzbekistan29
149๐จ๐ป Cabo Verde29
150๐ฌ๐พ Guyana28
151๐ฐ๐ฌ Kyrgyzstan28
152๐ซ๐ฒ Micronesia, Federated States of28
153๐ช๐จ Ecuador28
154๐ฐ๐ญ Cambodia28
155๐น๐ป Tuvalu28
156๐ณ๐ท Nauru28
157๐ณ๐ต Nepal28
158๐ผ๐ธ Samoa27
159๐ด๐ฒ Oman27
160๐ฐ๐ฎ Kiribati27
161๐ง๐ผ Botswana27
162๐ง๐ฟ Belize27
163๐ง๐ด Bolivia27
164๐ฉ๐ฏ Djibouti26
165๐ฑ๐พ Libya26
166๐น๐ด Tonga26
167๐ต๐ญ Philippines26
168๐ญ๐ณ Honduras26
169๐ฒ๐ญ Marshall Islands26
170๐ฑ๐ฆ Laos25
171๐ธ๐ง Solomon Islands25
172๐ฏ๐ด Jordan25
173๐ญ๐น Haiti25
174๐ฌ๐น Guatemala25
175๐ธ๐ฟ Eswatini25
176๐ป๐บ Vanuatu25
177๐ช๐ฌ Egypt24
178๐ธ๐พ Syria24
179๐ฑ๐ธ Lesotho24
180๐ต๐ฐ Pakistan23
181๐น๐ฏ Tajikistan23
182๐ณ๐ฆ Namibia23
183๐ฐ๐ฒ Comoros23
184๐ฎ๐ถ Iraq22
185๐ฒ๐ท Mauritania22
186๐ฌ๐ถ Equatorial Guinea22
187๐ฌ๐ฆ Gabon22
188๐พ๐ช Yemen22
189๐ต๐ธ West Bank22
190๐ต๐ฌ Papua New Guinea22
191๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana21
192๐ช๐ท Eritrea21
193๐ฒ๐ฌ Madagascar21
194๐ฟ๐ผ Zimbabwe21
195๐จ๐ฎ Cote d'Ivoire21
196๐ฐ๐ช Kenya21
197๐ธ๐น Sao Tome & Principe21
198๐ท๐ผ Rwanda21
199๐น๐ฌ Togo21
200๐จ๐ฌ Congo21
201๐น๐ฑ Timor-Leste21
202๐จ๐ซ Central African Republic20
203๐ช๐น Ethiopia20
204๐ฒ๐ผ Malawi20
205๐ฌ๐ฒ Gambia20
206๐ฆ๐ซ Afghanistan20
207๐ฑ๐ท Liberia20
208๐ต๐ธ Gaza20
209๐ฌ๐ณ Guinea19
210๐ธ๐ฑ Sierra Leone19
211๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria19
212๐ธ๐ฉ Sudan19
213๐ธ๐ณ Senegal19
214๐น๐ฟ Tanzania19
215๐ธ๐ด Somalia19
216๐จ๐ฒ Cameroon19
217๐ธ๐ธ South Sudan19
218๐ง๐ซ Burkina Faso19
219๐ฟ๐ฒ Zambia18
220๐ง๐ฎ Burundi18
221๐ฌ๐ผ Guinea-Bissau18
222๐ฒ๐ฟ Mozambique17
223๐ง๐ฏ Benin17
224๐จ๐ฉ DRC17
225๐น๐ฉ Chad17
226๐ฒ๐ฑ Mali16
227๐ฆ๐ด Angola16
228๐บ๐ฌ Uganda16
229๐ณ๐ช Niger15
Note: Figures rounded.
Meanwhile, the presence of six European nations on the oldest countries list is a quick insight into the continentโs changing demographic. The UN estimates that one in four Europeans are currently aged 60 and over.
Conversely, many countries in Africa have low life expectancies and high birth rates. This results in the opposite phenomenon: lower median ages.
A low median age also has its own concerns. A higher proportion of children and adolescents can strain the education infrastructure. Without enough job growth, underemployment and unemployment can rise.
However, if managed well, low median ages can lead to a demographic dividend, where the workforce temporarily grows faster than the dependent population, increasing per capita income.