Population ageing
By 2030, one in six people worldwide will be aged 60 or over.
Source: World Health Organization
The share of the world's population over 60 will nearly double between 2015 and 2050, rising from 12% to 22%.
Source: World Health Organization
The number of people aged 60 and older worldwide will double to 2.1 billion by 2050.
Source: World Health Organization
The number of people aged 80 or older is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050, reaching 426 million.
Source: World Health Organization
By 2050, one in six people globally will be over age 65, up from one in eleven in 2019.
Source: United Nations
Where people want to age
75% of U.S. adults aged 50 and older want to remain in their current homes as they age, and 73% hope to stay in their communities.
Across OECD countries, 50% to 70% of older adults prefer to receive home- and community-based services so they can keep living independently at home.
Source: BMC Geriatrics (peer-reviewed, 2025), citing OECD data
77% of adults 50 and older want to remain in their homes for the long term, a preference that has stayed consistent for more than a decade.
60% of U.S. adults 65 and older who live in their own home without a caregiver say that if they could no longer do so, they would want to stay in their home and have someone care for them there (Pew Research Center survey, September 2025).
Source: Pew Research Center (American Trends Panel survey of 2,582 adults 65+, September 2025)
Falls and safety at home
An estimated 684,000 people die from falls around the world every year, and more than 80% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Source: World Health Organization
Falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide.
Source: World Health Organization
Every year, 37.3 million falls are severe enough to require medical attention, and adults over 60 suffer the greatest number of fatal falls.
Source: World Health Organization
More than 1 in 4 US adults aged 65 and older — about 14 million people (27.6%) — reported falling in the past year, according to 2020 CDC data.
Unintentional falls are the leading cause of both injury and injury death among adults aged 65 and older in the United States.
Chronic conditions and the care workforce
More than half of adults over 60 worldwide live with two or more chronic conditions at the same time (51.0%, 95% CI 44.1–58.0%).
Source: eClinicalMedicine (The Lancet Discovery Science), peer-reviewed systematic review and meta-analysis
The WHO projects a global shortfall of 11 million health workers by 2030, concentrated in low- and lower-middle income countries.
Source: World Health Organization
SoftCare platform facts
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- A live care sheet documents every session, and family in another city can follow along in real time.
All figures link to their original source. Last reviewed: July 2026.
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