On 1 January 2025, the median age of the EU’s population reached 44.9 years. This means that half of the people in the EU were older than 44.9 years, while the other half was younger. Across the EU, it ranged from 39.6 years in Ireland to 49.1 years in Italy.
At EU level, the median age has increased by 2.1 years since 2015, when it was 42.8 years. Increases were recorded in all EU countries, except Germany and Malta (each -0.4 years).
The ageing of the population was most pronounced in Slovakia and Cyprus, where the median increased by 4.0 years, followed by Italy (+3.9 years), Greece and Poland (each +3.8 years) and Portugal (+3.7 years).
Source dataset: demo_pjanind
On 1 January 2025, the estimated median age of the native-born population in EU countries was 2.1 years higher than that of the foreign-born population (45.2 years vs. 43.1 years).
For more information
- Statistics Explained article on population structure and aging
- Statistics Explained article on EU population diversity by citizenship and country of birth
- Thematic section on demography, population stock and balance
- Thematic section on international migration, citizenship
- Database on demography, population stock and balance
- Database on international migration, citizenship
- Podcast episode on population statistics
- Demography of Europe – 2025 edition
- Migration and asylum in Europe – 2025 edition
Methodological notes
- Foreign-born population refers to people born outside the reporting country including people born in other EU countries.
- Native-born population refers to people born in the reporting country, regardless of whether their parents are native-born or foreign-born.
- Median ages for foreign-born and native-born populations: Portugal did not transmit data for 2025 for these breakdowns. Therefore, the EU median ages were estimated using 2024 data for Portugal.
