Chelsea pensionerAFP/Getty Images

Almost one in six people in Britain are now pensioners, highlighting the huge challenge the country faces in caring for the elderly. Maps based on figures from the 2011 and 2001 censuses illustrate the startling changes.

In nearly all of Wales, Devon and Cornwall along with half of east England, between a fifth and a quarter of the population is now over 65. Ten years ago only a few areas in Britain had more than a fifth of the population aged over 65. The south west is obviously a popular retirement area, but what does this mean for the economy?

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It's mainly the coastal areas around Britain that are popular with older people who clearly like to spend their twilight years by the sea. London is the only place in the country that has some areas where the over-65s make up just a tenth or less of the population.

With life expectancy steadily going up thanks to medical advances, some 9.2 million people in England and Wales - 16.4% of the population - are now over 65. That's almost 900,000 more people of bus-pass age than a decade ago, according to the latest census figures, which were released by the Office for National Statistics.

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While (single) women often face poverty in their old age because they haven't built up large pensions due to childcare commitments, many of the post-war baby boomers are in an enviable position: they've paid off their mortgages and are benefiting from far more generous pension schemes than workers get now. Most companies have phased out final salary pension plans. The current generation of young people who can't find a job let alone buy their own home until they are in their late 30s or 40s must be feeling quite bitter.

According to the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies, pensioner incomes have risen by nearly 30% since 1999, compared to just 26% for working people. They will also be hit less hard by the government's cuts and tax hikes than families with children. The perks of growing old include free TV licences, winter fuel allowances and free bus passes. The question is what will today's pensioners do with their spending power? You can certainly expect to see more companies court the elderly.

At the same time, the state's funds will be increasingly strained under the burden of caring for the old and infirm, and noone's come up with an answer yet how we're going to pay for future pensions, healthcare and social care.

Age UK director general Michelle Mitchell said: "These figures show the emergence of a new generation of people in their late eighties and nineties.


"Better health means greater numbers of people over 65 able to contribute to their communities, families and the economy, but these statistics also illustrate the huge challenge of care and support for vulnerable older people."

In 1911, just 13,000 people were over the age of 90 - this age group has swelled to 430,000. The number of women over 90 alone was 315,000 last year, nearly three times higher than the 114,000 men recorded. And the median age in England and Wales has gone up to 39 from just 25 a century ago. For women it has breached 40 for the first time.

However, there is also a baby boom fuelled by immigration and more British-born women having children: the under-fives have risen by 400,000 since 2001 to 3.5 million.

In fact England and Wales is now the fifth fastest growing country in the EU, with the population swelling by 3.7 million to 56.1 million over the past decade. This is the biggest rise since the first national census was carried out in 1801 and could take Britain's population above 63 million. Northern Ireland's population has grown 7% to 1.8 million between 2001 and 2011. Scotland releases figures later this year.

London saw the biggest population growth, gaining more than 850,000 inhabitants (or 12%) to more than 8 million.

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