The proportion of the total population in Malta of people aged 65 and over, estimated at 14.8 per cent at present, is estimated to grow to 24.2 per cent in 20 years’ time, statistics published yesterday by Eurostat show.

The same statistics also show that the old age dependency ratio for Malta will increase from the present 21.2 per cent to 39.1 per cent in the same period.

Other countries are more or less in the same levels, but some are less so than Malta, denoting a younger population. Thus 24.1 per cent of the population of the Netherlands will be over 65 in 20 years’ time, and 22 per cent of Hungarians but only 17.9 per cent of Cypriots.