Number of Brazilians over 80 to grow 27 times from 1980 to 2060
If projections prove true, Brazil's population over 80 or more will reach 19,111,509 in 2060.
The number of people aged 80 or more is expected to surpass 19 million in 2060, a rise of more than 27 times from 1980, when Brazil had less than 1 million people at this age group (684,789 people). In the projection for 2016, the country will have 3,458,279 people over 80, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
Population estimates from 1980 to 1999 were added to data from 2000 to 2060, released in 2013, and presented this week by the IBGE.
If projections prove true, Brazil's population over 80 or more will reach 19,111,509 in 2060. Compared with current data, this number would only be lower than the total population of the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais.
The rise is caused by the Brazilian improvement in life expectancy at birth, which was 62.58 years in 1980, and may reach 81.2 years according to 2060 projection.
Children
At the other end of the age pyramid, the group of children aged 4 shall be reduced in 2060 to almost half the number estimated in 1980 (16,942,583).
The forecast is that this number will continue the downward trend that began at the end of that decade, until it reaches 8,935,080 in 2060.
Currently, according to IBGE projections, the country has 14,545,488 children aged from 0 to 4 years old (in 2016).
The difference of the number of children is closely related to other demographic data that have been declining: number of children per woman. In 1980, the average was 4.12 children per woman, a rate that decreased to 2.39 in 2000, and shall reach 1.50 in 2060.
Translated by Amarílis Anchieta
Fonte: Number of Brazilians over 80 to grow 27 times from 1980 to 2060
