Ageing UK statistics: You read it here first... seven months ago, in fact, Teesdale Mercury

THE Government has again highlighted Teesdale as one of the fastest ageing areas in the country, as it announced plans to raise the state retirement age. 

As the Mercury first reported in January, the government predicts that almost a third of people living in the dale will be over the age of 65 in 20 years time.

The figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the working age population in the dale is set to fall to just 55 per cent in the same period.

If the projections prove accurate, by 2031, the dale will have an older population than Eastbourne, the south coast retirement destination. 

Figures for 2009 show that in the North East, only Berwick and Alnwick have an older population than Teesdale, where 21 per cent of people are over 65.

In the UK as a whole, the population aged 65 and over is projected to rise from 16.5 per cent to 22.2 per cent by 2031.

Those exact figures were reported in the Mercury earlier this year.

The national press this week reported on the “demographic time bomb” and the “rocketing numbers of pensioners” for the first time – seven months after the Mercury’s coverage.

The Daily Mail and The Sun both described the figures as a “shock”.

An interactive online map allows people to track how the United Kingdom is expected to age over the coming decades. It can be accessed at ww.statistics.gov.uk/ageingintheuk/agemap.html