{"id":9995,"date":"2020-04-22T11:03:55","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T16:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/populations-skew-older-in-some-of-the-countries-hit-hard-by-covid-19\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T01:15:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T06:15:50","slug":"populations-skew-older-in-some-of-the-countries-hit-hard-by-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/04\/22\/populations-skew-older-in-some-of-the-countries-hit-hard-by-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Populations skew older in some of the countries hit hard by COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A man in Padova, Italy, wears a protective mask on March 23, during a nationwide lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus. (Massimo Bertolini\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n

Some of the countries where COVID-19 has been deadliest<\/a> \u2013 including the United States and Italy \u2013 have populations that skew considerably older than the global average, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of United Nations data<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

\"Populations<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

People who are 60 and older appear to be especially vulnerable<\/a> to the virus, while children appear to be less susceptible<\/a> to it. Adults younger than 60 often have been affected by COVID-19, too, but they generally have been less likely than older people to die from it.<\/p>\n\n

Globally, much of the population is quite young, with a median age of about 31. (In other words, if you lined up everyone in the world by age, the people in the middle would be 31.) But median age varies considerably by region and country, as do the shares of each age group in any given place.<\/p>\n\n

Europe, Northern America and wealthy countries in Asia have the oldest inhabitants, while Africa has by far the youngest. Countries with older populations tend to be more economically developed<\/a>, resulting in better nutrition, health care services and government support in retirement. In these countries, people tend to have fewer children and to live longer<\/a>. In poorer countries, meanwhile, fertility is higher and people more often die<\/a> in young adulthood as a consequence of war or from infectious diseases and complications related to childbearing.<\/p>\n\n

Here is a closer look at how median ages and age distributions vary by region and country. You can also scroll directly to each region using the links below. (This analysis uses\u00a0regional classifications<\/a>\u00a0from the UN, which differ from those used in other Pew Research Center reports.)<\/p>\n\n