Over a third of over-65s have high life satisfaction, data finds

Ireland has a high level of overall life satisfaction among those aged 65 and over, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

In 2025, the population aged 65 and over was 861,000, a 37% increase from 2016, when it was 629,000.

Overall life satisfaction had increased for those aged 65 years old or over from 2024 to 2025, from 32.3% to 36.5%.

When it came to the poverty rate for those aged 65 and over, it was 3.4% in 2025, which had increased from 2.0% the year before.

The data also shows that in 2024, 112,570 people over the age of 80 held a full driving licence. This was more than double what it was in 2014, at 54,557.

Sarah Crilly, Statistician in the Social Cohesion and Sustainable Development Goals Division of the CSO, gave her insights into the data.

She said: “The population of Ireland is ageing, and older people are continuing to be an active and vibrant part of our community. In 2025, more than a third (36.5%) of people aged 65 years and over considered their overall life satisfaction to be high, compared with more than one in five (22.1%) of those aged 25-49 years.

“Almost four in ten (37.5%) respondents aged 65 to 74 years, and three in ten (31.4%) respondents aged 75 years and over, reported that they did muscle strengthening activities at least once a week in 2024.

“In 2024, 92.0% of respondents aged 75 years and over used prescription medicine, non-prescription medicine or vitamins in the two weeks prior to interview, compared with 59.9% of respondents aged 25 to 34 years.

“One in twenty respondents (4.9%) aged 65 years and over smoked tobacco products daily (excluding e-cigarettes), compared with 12.6% of those aged 25 to 34 years in 2024.

“In 2025, 63% of those aged 75 years and over, used the internet in the three months prior to interview, compared with all respondents (100%) aged 30 to 44 years.

“Of those that used the internet in the previous 3 months, 86% of females aged 75 years and over sent or received emails, compared with 96% of males aged 75 years and over.

In 2025, the estimated population aged 65 years and over was 861,000, a 37% growth on 2016, at 629,000.

“The population of people aged 65 years and over is projected to double over the next thirty years, from an estimated 916,000 in 2027 to 1,879,000 in 2057.

“Therefore, the old age dependency ratio (which expresses the population aged 65 years and over as a percentage of the population aged 15-64 years), is projected to double in percentage points over the next thirty years, from 25.0% in 2027 to 49.8% in 2057.

“There was an increase of 31% in the proportion of people aged 65 years and over in employment, from 103,300 in Quarter 4 (Q4) 2022 to 135,300 in Q4 2025. People aged 65 years and over in employment worked an average of 31.6 hours per week in Q4 2025, a rise on Q4 2023 at 30.2 hours per week."