How many people in the world are 87 years old?

Roughly 10 million, about 0.1% of the world. The UN publishes five-year groups, so this is a share of the 85 to 89 group, not a direct count.

What percentage of the world is under 87?

99% of the world's people are younger than 87, and 1% are older. The median age of the world is 30.6 (UN, 2024): half of all living people are younger than that.

What is the median age of the world?

30.6 years in 2024, by the UN's World Population Prospects. It ranges from 14.4 in the Central African Republic to 49.4 in Japan. No country has a median age this high. The oldest is Japan, at 49.4; the world's median is 30.6, so 87 is 56 years above it.

How many people are older than 87?

About 43 million people are older than 87, 1% of the world. 8.0 billion, 99%, are younger, and roughly 10 million are 87 right now. The world's median age is 30.6, so 87 is in the older half.

Percentile

99%

of the world's people are younger than 87

Age 87 = born around 1936

Older persons, 65 and overUN age bands: children 0 to 14, youth 15 to 24, working age 25 to 64, older persons 65 and over. Labels for statisticians, not verdicts.

Age 87 by group

Around 87

Completed years of age, UN estimates for 2023, interpolated within five-year groups
Group	People	Share of world
Younger than you (0 to 86)	8.0 billion	99%
Your age (87)	10 million	<1%
Older than you (88 and up)	43 million	1%

The world by age

UN population estimates for 2023, 8.1 billion people in all
Age	People	Share	Younger than this band
0 to 9	1.3 billion	17%	<1%
10 to 19	1.3 billion	16%	17%
20 to 29	1.2 billion	15%	33%
30 to 39	1.2 billion	15%	48%
40 to 49	998 million	12%	63%
50 to 59	875 million	11%	75%
60 to 69	626 million	8%	86%
70 to 79	360 million	4%	94%
80 to 89	137 million	2%	98%
90 and over	23 million	<1%	>99%

Percentile is the share of the world's people younger than this age. “1 in X” counts the rarer side: people at or beyond this value above the median, at or under it below. Counts come from the UN's five-year age groups, spread evenly inside each group. No normal curve; the age test uses one, so its number differs by a few points.

What this means

World life expectancy at birth is 73.2 years (70.5 for men, 75.9 for women, UN). 87 is past it, which is not a deadline: someone who has reached 87 has already survived the risks a newborn still faces, and in rich countries can expect several more years.
No country has a median age this high. The oldest is Japan, at 49.4; the world's median is 30.6, so 87 is 56 years above it.
About 10 million people are 87 right now. Standing in a line half a metre apart they would stretch 4,820 km, 12% of the way around the equator.
The counts come from the UN's five-year age groups for 2023, spread evenly inside each group. Our age test uses a normal curve with mean 30 and SD 18 instead, so its percentile differs from this one by a few points.

Questions

How many people are older than 87?: About 43 million people are older than 87, which is 1% of the world's 8.1 billion. 8.0 billion are younger. Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024, 2023 estimates by five-year age group.
How many people in the world are 87 years old?: Roughly 10 million, about 0.1% of the world. The UN publishes five-year groups, so this is a share of the 85 to 89 group, not a direct count.
What percentage of the world is under 87?: 99% of the world's people are younger than 87, and 1% are older. The median age of the world is 30.6 (UN, 2024): half of all living people are younger than that.
What is the median age of the world?: 30.6 years in 2024, by the UN's World Population Prospects. It ranges from 14.4 in the Central African Republic to 49.4 in Japan. No country has a median age this high. The oldest is Japan, at 49.4; the world's median is 30.6, so 87 is 56 years above it.

Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024, population by five-year age group, 2023 estimates, via Our World in Data (fetched 2026-10-28). Life expectancy: United Nations, World Population Prospects 2024, estimates for 2023. Median ages: UN WPP 2024, for 2024. Counts come from the UN's five-year age groups, spread evenly inside each group. No normal curve; the age test uses one, so its number differs by a few points.

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