About this report
The OECD’s Health at a Glance 2025 report offers one of the most comprehensive and comparable assessments of how health systems across advanced economies are responding to demographic aging. Drawing on standardized indicators from 38 OECD countries, the report highlights a widening gap between rising life expectancy and the ability of health systems to support healthy, functional aging. Its findings underscore that population aging is no longer a future challenge but a present structural pressure shaping health demand, workforce capacity, and long-term care systems.
At the core of the report lies a clear demographic shift. Across OECD countries, the share of people aged 65 and over has nearly doubled over the past five decades and continues to rise rapidly. By mid-century, more than one quarter of the population in many OECD countries is projected to be aged 65 or older, with the fastest growth occurring among those aged 80 and above. This older age group is associated with significantly higher healthcare and care needs, placing sustained pressure on systems originally designed for younger populations and episodic care.
While people are living longer on average, the report makes clear that longevity gains do not automatically translate into healthier years of life. Many of the additional years gained are lived with chronic illness, disability, or functional limitations. The gap between total life expectancy and healthy life years remains substantial in most OECD countries, raising concerns about quality of life in later years and the sustainability of health systems focused primarily on treatment rather than prevention.
Chronic conditions dominate the health landscape of aging societies. Non-communicable diseases—including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, respiratory conditions, and dementia—account for the majority of disease burden across OECD countries, with prevalence rising sharply with age. Multi-morbidity is increasingly common among older adults, challenging health systems that remain fragmented and poorly coordinated. The report highlights that systems built around acute, hospital-based care struggle to meet the long-term, complex needs associated with aging populations.
Long-term care emerges as one of the most critical pressure points. Demand for long-term care services is increasing rapidly, driven by longer lives and a growing number of people living with functional limitations. Yet supply remains uneven, both within and across countries. Many systems rely heavily on informal caregivers—most often women—while facing shortages of professional care workers. The report points to growing risks around affordability, access, and workforce sustainability if long-term care systems are not strengthened and better integrated with health services.
Workforce constraints extend beyond long-term care. The health workforce itself is aging, and shortages in key professions—particularly nursing and geriatric care—are becoming more pronounced. Recruitment and retention challenges, combined with rising demand, threaten the capacity of health systems to deliver timely and effective care. The report stresses that without strategic investment in training, productivity, and improved working conditions, workforce shortages will intensify as populations continue to age.
At the same time, Health at a Glance 2025 highlights significant variation in performance across countries, demonstrating that policy choices matter. Countries with strong primary care systems, higher investment in prevention, and better coordination between health and social services tend to perform better on indicators such as avoidable hospitalizations, continuity of care, and system efficiency. These findings reinforce the importance of shifting health systems away from reactive, hospital-centric models toward more integrated, people-centered approaches.
Prevention and health promotion play a central role in this shift. The report emphasizes that many of the conditions driving ill-health in later life are influenced by risk factors accumulated across the life course. Addressing these factors earlier—through healthier environments, improved access to primary care, and targeted prevention—can reduce future demand for costly treatment and long-term care. In aging societies, prevention is not simply a public health goal; it is a fiscal and social necessity.
The data also highlight persistent inequalities. Health outcomes in older age vary significantly by income, education, and gender. Women, for example, tend to live longer than men but spend more years in poor health and are more likely to rely on long-term care services. These disparities point to the need for aging policies that address social determinants of health alongside medical care.
Health at a Glance 2025 presents a clear message: aging populations are not inherently a crisis, but they expose structural weaknesses in health systems that have been slow to adapt. Extending life expectancy without parallel investment in healthy aging, integrated care, and long-term care risks widening the gap between longevity and wellbeing. The report calls for a reorientation of health systems toward functional ability, prevention, and continuity of care across the life course.
For policymakers and health leaders, the implications are clear. Adapting health systems to aging societies is no longer optional. Decisions made today—on workforce planning, care integration, prevention, and long-term care financing—will determine whether longer lives are accompanied by better health and dignity, or by rising strain on individuals, families, and public systems. Health at a Glance 2025 offers not only a diagnosis of current challenges, but a data-driven foundation for rethinking how societies support aging in the decades ahead.
