People over 85 to quadruple in 30 years, CSO finds

Most older people live in a home they own without a mortgage to pay, a sizeable number of over 65s still have a mortgage with more than 27,000 people paying one off

Mon, 13 Oct, 2025 - 13:00

Sean Murray

The number of people in Ireland aged 85 and over is projected to almost quadruple in the space of 30 years to 389,400, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

In recent analysis of the lives of the country’s older people, the CSO said that the old age dependency ratio, which expresses the number of people aged over 65 as a percentage of working age adults, is expected to increase significantly at the same time.

This suggests greater pressures will be placed on the health service, as well as the public purse through State pensions, as people live longer.

In the meantime, its statistics suggest that 32.3% people aged 65 and over are living well as they consider their life satisfaction to be high compared to just a quarter of people aged 25 to 49 years.

At the same time, however, while most older people live in a home they own without a mortgage to pay, a sizeable number of over 65s still have a mortgage with more than 27,000 people paying one off.

This age group is at a higher risk of poverty compared to those aged 18 to 34 years.

“The population of Ireland is ageing, and older people are continuing to be an active and vibrant part of our community,” said CSO statistician Sarah Crilly.

“The Older Persons Information Hub includes both social and economic indicators, which cover life satisfaction, population, health, education, employment, income, poverty, crime, life events, and more. This is a reflection of the full and varied lives led by older people in Ireland.”

The statistics show a greater number of people aged 65 and over in employment in recent years. In the second quarter of 2025, there were 131,400 people in this age group at work. This was an increase of 26% on the 103,900 in work in the second quarter of 2021.

While people are working longer, one in four of those aged 55-69 does not have a pension.

The numbers still working reflect trends of working longer and come against the backdrop of auto-enrolment pensions set to be rolled out at the start of next year.