blogs.worldbank.org (12.09.2016) While many of us work hard to postpone growing old, ageing populations as a whole are inevitable, predictable and something countries can prepare for. As developing countries prosper, their citizens will live longer and, hopefully, healthier lives. By 2050, the number of people in the world 65 and older will have doubled from 10% to 20%. By then 80% of the world’s elderly –nearly 1.3 billion people - will live in low-income countries.