Ageing is a critical, yet overlooked development issue directly implicating 12.2% of the global population, with currently more than 901 million people aged 60 and older, an increasing majority of whom live in low and middle-income countries.

Despite their demographic significance, older persons have been typically unrecognized by international development programmes, policy, and discourse, and as a result, low-and-middle-income countries have fallen behind in developing capacities to address the needs of their ageing populations. These needs are wide-ranging, with alarmingly high rates of poverty and higher risk of vulnerability among older persons, most acutely among older women.

This issue brief raises awareness of the emerging challenges, as well as opportunities, related to ageing and proposes initial recommendations for addressing them in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.