Figures charting current population growth and population trends for the next 40 years show that Iceland will keep its pensioner population in balance while other European countries are faced with the problem of dependent ageing populations.
Many countries, such as Germany, Italy, Portugal and Greece, have reported significant increases in the number of dependents over the past 10 years. The numbers of dependents in these countries is likely to double by 2050.
Many of the EU’s newer members, including smaller states like Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Estonia, also showed large increases and the trend is not likely to change in the coming years.
Iceland and other Scandinavian countries on the other hand have shown slow growth rates in the number of dependents, which is likely to leave the total population proportion unchanged over the coming decades.
In Iceland, 17.9 per cent of the population are presently dependents, up from 17.3 per cent ten years ago. Figures from the European Union Public Health Information System, predict that this figure will remain largely unchanged in coming decades