The number of elderly people over 65 years may double in the Czech Republic by 2050 from the current 1.49 million to 2.96 million, according to calculations of the Czech Statistical Office.

A total of 52,715 people would be over 90 in 2050. 

Demographers point out that the population ageing is the most fundamental social change with which advanced countries, including the Czech Republic, must reckon. 

Not only social and pension systems, but also producers, services and entertainment must be adapted to the rising number of the elderly in the future. 

In 2005, some 1.45 million people over 65 lived in the 10-million Czech Republic and 34,460 inhabitants were over 90. 

In 2030, the number of people over 65 would rise to 2.31 million in the country. 

In 1990, the ageing index, that is the number of people over 65 related to the number of children under 14, was 60, while in 2000 it was over 85. In 2010 it would be 114 in the Czech Republic. 

People live longer thanks to the change in their lifestyle and modern medicine. The share of elderly people increase over a low birth rate. In the Czech Republic, there is about 1.3 children per woman in fertility age, according to statistics. 

The situation in other European countries is more or less similar. 

"The European Union is to a certain extent changing into old people's home," Vladimir Spidla, Czech EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, said at a conference on population ageing in Prague a month ago. 

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