Breaking news: The country with the largest population of older people has been announced! Here is Türkiye’s turn.

The platform called Our World in Data, which is supported by the University of Oxford in England, conducted research into which countries have the world’s oldest and youngest populations.

Accordingly, the oldest country is the Vatican, where the average age is 57.7 years. 800 people live in the Vatican, an independent state located in Rome and the administrative center of the Catholic community. Almost all of these people are priests and nuns who have been granted citizenship by the Holy See. This naturally increases the lifespan of the population.

Europe is getting old! So where does Türkiye rank?

In terms of the number of elderly people, the Vatican is followed by Monaco with an average age of 54.5, the island of Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean with 50.9, Japan with 48.4 and Italy with 46.8. Turkey, with an average population age of 39.6 years, ranks 53rd on this list. Portugal is in the top 20 countries on the list with an average of 45, Germany with 44.9, and Greece with an average of 44.7. The United States ranks 73rd with an average age of 37.7 years. The youngest country in the world is Niger, located in West Africa, with an average age of 14.5 years. In the list of young population, Niger is followed by the Central African Republic with an average of 14.7, Chad with an average of 15, and Mali with an average of 15.1.

*Countries with the highest average age

■ Vatican: 57.7

■ Monaco: 54.5

■ Saint Helena: 50.9

■ Japan: 48.4

■ Italy: 46.8

■ Sint Maarten (Dutch part): 46.5

■ Martinique: 46.3

■ San Marino: 46.3

■ Isle of Man: 45.3

■ Portugal: 45

■ Bermuda: 44.9

■ Germany: 44.9

■ Hong Kong: 44.9

■ Greece: 44.7

■ Bulgaria: 44.5

* Countries with the lowest average age

■ Niger: 14.5

■ Central Africa Republic: 14.7

■ Chad: 15

■ Financial: 15.1

■ Somalia: 15.2

■ Burundi: 15.6

■ Democratic Republic of the Congo: 15.6

■ Uganda: 15.9

■ South Sudan: 16.1

■ Angola: 16.2

■ In swimwear: 16.5

■ Burkina Faso: 16.6

■ Afghanistan: 16.7

■ Gambia: 16.8

■ Malawi: 16.8

Youth is linked to birth rate

■ Countries with lower life expectancy tend to have higher population growth rates.

■ High life expectancy can be an indicator of countries’ wealth.

■ Low ages generally indicate countries experiencing population explosions.

■ The reason African countries are young is because their populations are the fastest growing.

■ More than half of global population growth between now and 2050 is expected to occur in Africa.

Women get married early

■ In Niger, which has the youngest population in the world, women have longer reproductive years when they marry early.

■ Only one in 10 women in Niger reportedly uses contraceptives.

■ Niger, with its young population, has the highest birth rate in the world, with an average woman giving birth to 7.2 children.

■ On the other hand, life expectancy is rising not only because of wealth but also because birth rates are falling in some countries.

■ For example, the population of Japan, the fourth oldest country in the world with an average of 48.4 people, will decline by 800,000 in 2022.

■ The decline in population is due to delayed marriage, economic pressures, and the intensity of commercial life.