The world population in 2000 was 6 billion, but it is projected to grow to 10 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations Population Division.

• There are 600 million people older than 60, a number that is projected to triple over the next 50 years to 2 billion.
• By 2050, the number of people older than 60 will exceed the number of children younger than 14 for the first time in history.
• The population of people older than 60 is growing by 2 percent each year, considerably faster than the general population.
• Today, the world median age is 26. By 2050, it is expected to increase to 36.
• The fastest growing group is those 80 years or older. Now, one in 10 people are in the group; by the middle of the century, one in five will be in the category.
• In 2000, nearly twice as many women as men were older than 80 and nearly five times as many women as men were older than 100.