The EU’s old-age dependency ratio stood at 33.4% as of 1 January 2023, said the European Union’s statistics bureau  on 15 February 2024. This indicator compares the number of elderly people (aged 65 and over) to the number of people of working age (15-64 years old). In Luxembourg, this ratio was 21.5%, the lowest in the European Union.

This means there were 21.5 elderly people for 100 people of working age in Luxembourg.

Portugal (38%), Italy and Finland (both 37.8%) and Bulgaria (37.7%) had the highest ratios in the EU, said Eurostat. Besides Luxembourg, the next lowest ratios were in Ireland (23.2%) and Cyprus (24.7%).

When comparing 2013 and 2023, the largest increase in old-age dependency ratios were seen in Poland (an increase of 10 percentage points), Bulgaria (up 9.2 percentage points) and Croatia (9 percentage points). The lowest increases were seen in Luxembourg (an increase of 1.3 percentage points), Malta (up 2 percentage points) and Austria (2.8 percentage points).

The indicator for the EU27 has increased 5.7 percentage points since 1 January 2013 (when it stood at 27.7%).

Looking at the European Free Trade Association (Efta) countries, only Iceland comes close to Luxembourg’s old-age dependency ratio.

Median age in Luxembourg: 39.7 years

The median age in the grand duchy on 1 January 2023 was 39.7 years, said Eurostat. This has increased by 0.6 years over the the last decade. In 2013, the median age in Luxembourg was 39.1 years.

The median age of the European Union’s population is higher than in Luxembourg, and has also seen a higher increase over the last 10 years. In the EU, the median age of the population reached 44.5 years on 1 January 2023. This has increased by 2.3 years since 2013 (when it was 42.2 years).

Find Eurostat’s full database on population structure and aging .