The report "A Profile of Older People in Spain, 2026" from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), under the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, details that the population aged 65 and over increased by 250,257 people in one year. The average age of the Spanish population stood at 44.55 years in 2025. Furthermore, the number of centenarians grew by 7.1%, reaching 17,038 individuals, of whom approximately eight out of ten are women.
Projections from the study, conducted by the Population Department of the Institute of Economy, Geography and Demography (IEGD-CSIC), suggest that the population aged 65 and over could exceed 16 million by 2046, accounting for nearly 30% of the total, if current demographic assumptions hold true.
The report also highlights that the majority of older individuals own their homes, but 56.6% of households with a reference person aged 65 or over reside in properties built before 1981. Of these, 20.7% have made energy efficiency improvements in the last five years, while another 30.3% consider them necessary but have not undertaken them, primarily due to economic cost.
Regarding digital connectivity, daily internet use among those aged 65 to 74 increased from 70.5% in 2024 to 75.0% in 2025, surpassing the European Union average. In the 75 and over group, usage grew from 34.6% to 35.4%. Demographer Julio Pérez Díaz, the report's coordinator, notes that this increase is more due to the arrival of recent generations than to technological literacy among the elderly.
Healthy life expectancy at age 65 was 10.3 years for women and 10.2 for men in 2023, according to Eurostat data included in the report. Self-perceived health in 2025 is slightly higher among men than women.
Women constitute the majority of the population from the age of 53 onwards, a difference that becomes more pronounced in advanced ages due to their higher life expectancy. The gender pension gap in Spain, although narrowing, remains significant (27.3% in 2025), attributed to historically lower female education and labor participation rates.
Territorial inequalities persist, with 29.1% of older people living in rural municipalities compared to 20.0% in urban areas in 2025, with Asturias, Castilla y León, and Galicia having the highest regional proportions. The report, which continues the series of basic indicators for the 'Envejecimiento en Red' project, was authored by Julio Pérez Díaz, Ana Belén Castillo Belmonte, Pilar Aceituno Nieto, and Diego Ramiro Fariñas.
