Spain has crossed a major demographic milestone, with more than one in five residents now aged 65 or over and the number expected to keep climbing sharply over the next two decades.
Spain now has more than 10 million residents aged 65 or over for the first time, underlining just how quickly the country’s population is ageing.
The total reached 10,178,625 in 2025, representing 20.7% of the population.
That was an increase of 250,257 people in just one year, or 2.5%.
The figures come from the latest report on ageing, health and wellbeing prepared by researchers at the Spanish National Research Council, CSIC.
And the 10-million mark is unlikely to be the end of the story.
Researchers project that Spain’s population aged 65 and over could exceed 16 million by 2046, approaching 30% of the entire population if current demographic assumptions hold.
Spain is getting older
The average age of Spain’s population reached 44.55 years in 2025.
At the very oldest end of the population, growth is even more striking.
Spain had 17,038 people aged 100 or over, up from 15,911 a year earlier.
That represents an increase of 7.1% in just 12 months, and almost eight out of ten centenarians are women.
But researchers caution against treating an ageing population simply as a problem.
Demographer Julio Pérez, who coordinated the report, points out that reaching 65 today is very different from reaching the same age in previous generations.
Today’s older population generally enters retirement with higher levels of education, better nutrition and better healthcare behind them.
In other words, the number on the birthday cake might be the same, but the person blowing out the candles has changed considerably.
Could today’s babies live to 100?
One of the more striking observations in the report concerns future generations.
Pérez believes children being born today could eventually have an average life expectancy approaching 100 years.
That would represent another enormous change in how society thinks about education, careers, retirement, pensions, housing and healthcare.
How many healthy years can people expect after 65?
The latest Eurostat figures included in the report put healthy life expectancy at age 65 at 10.3 additional years for women and 10.2 for men.
Both figures improved in 2023 compared with 2022 as Spain continued to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
However, they remained below pre-pandemic levels.
Chronic health conditions also become increasingly common with age.
Among people aged 65 and over, hypertension, osteoarthritis and high cholesterol are particularly prevalent, while conditions including dementia and cataracts become more common among the oldest age groups.
The researchers argue that improvements in longevity cannot simply be attributed to advances in medicine.
Better nutrition, living conditions, education and healthcare throughout people’s lives all influence the condition in which they eventually reach old age.
Rural Spain is ageing even faster
Spain’s ageing population is not distributed evenly around the country.
People aged 65 and over represented 29.1% of residents in rural municipalities during 2025.
In urban areas, the figure was 20%.
Asturias, Castilla y León and Galicia recorded the highest proportions of older residents.
That geographical divide creates very different challenges.
A large older population in a city may increase demand for accessible housing, healthcare and public transport. In a small rural municipality, the same demographic shift can combine with declining population numbers and greater distances to essential services.
Housing could become a major part of the problem
The report also highlights an issue particularly relevant to a country where homeownership remains common among older generations.
Most older people in Spain own the home in which they live.
But many of those properties are ageing alongside their owners.
Some 56.6% of households where the reference person is aged 65 or over live in buildings constructed before 1981.
That matters because older homes can require substantial work to improve insulation, energy efficiency and general comfort.
Only 20.7% of these households had carried out energy-efficiency improvements during the previous five years.
Another 30.3% believed their homes needed such work but had not completed it.
Cost is stopping many owners from improving their homes
Money appears to be the biggest obstacle.
Among older owner-occupiers who believed their property needed improvements but had not carried them out, 74.1% identified cost as the main reason.
That creates a challenge which goes beyond simply asking whether somebody owns their home.
A mortgage-free property may represent considerable wealth on paper, but that does not necessarily mean its owner has enough disposable income to pay for major renovation work.
As Spain’s population ages, the condition and accessibility of existing housing could therefore become increasingly important.
Bridging the Gap’s recap
- Spain had 10,178,625 residents aged 65 or over in 2025, passing 10 million for the first time.
- Over-65s represented 20.7% of the population.
- Their number increased by 250,257 in one year.
- Spain had 17,038 centenarians, an annual increase of 7.1%.
- Almost eight out of ten centenarians are women.
- The over-65 population could exceed 16 million by 2046 and approach 30% of Spain’s population.
- Healthy life expectancy at age 65 stood at 10.3 years for women and 10.2 for men in 2023.
- Some 56.6% of households headed by someone aged 65 or over are in buildings constructed before 1981.
- Among older homeowners who need improvements but have not completed them, 74.1% cite cost as the main obstacle.
- Researchers believe generations being born today could eventually have an average life expectancy approaching 100 years.
