Ireland is ageing faster than anywhere else in Europe, placing growing pressure on the health service and posing challenges for planning its future, according to a new report by the Department of Health. A lot of this is due to a ‘catch-up’ with the older populations in other European countries.

There are currently five tax-contributing workers for every one person over 65, but in 20 years this ratio will drop to three to one, the Health in Ireland — Key Trends report says.

The over-65 population has grown by 35 per cent over the past decade — more than three times the rate of growth in the overall population and faster than elsewhere in Europe, according to the report.

Meanwhile, births are down by one-fifth, a fall that would have been even greater but for a 4.4 per cent uptick in 2021, the first rise in a decade. Because fertility continues to drop elsewhere, we still have the sixth-highest rate in Europe.