Facts and Figures
When using any of our statistics please reference Age UK London.
Population
Over 11 million people – 18.6% of the total population – were aged 65 years or older, compared with 16.4% at the time of the previous census in 2011. This included over half a million (527,900) people who were at least 90 years of age.
There are 2.5 million people aged 50 or over living in London with 1,043,400 over the age of 65. These are the figures from the 2021 Census.
| Aged 55 to 59 years [note 12] |
Aged 60 to 64 years [note 12] |
Aged 65 to 69 years [note 12] |
Aged 70 to 74 years [note 12] |
Aged 75 to 79 years [note 12] |
Aged 80 to 84 years [note 12] |
Aged 85 to 89 years [note 12] |
Aged 90 years and over [note 12] |
| 511,600 | 404,600 | 306,400 | 269,100 | 189,700 | 141,000 | 86,800 | 50,400 |
Economic Situation
Although London is the richest city in the UK, rates of pensioner poverty are far higher in the capital compared to the rest of England according to Age UK London Poverty Report 2023
- 24% of older Londoners (over the age of 50) live in poverty, compared to
19% in the rest of England. - Despite poverty rates for people of all ages having fallen recently in
London overall, rates for older people have persistently increased from
19% a decade ago to 24% in 2021/22. - If poverty rates for the over 50s in London were at the same rate as the
rest of England, some 125,000 fewer people would be in poverty. - 46% of older Londoners living in social housing are in poverty.
- The proportion of pensioners (UK pension age is currently 66 years old
for both men and women) in London living below the Minimum Income
Standard has dropped since 2019 from 38% in 2019/20 to 31% in 2021/2022. This is now the same rate as for the rest of England. - The gap between poverty rates after housing, for pensioner couples and
single pensioners has nearly doubled in the past decade.
London population by borough
Please enlarge to view. Census 2021 figures
