Monaco’s 2025 census has confirmed the Principality’s status as the world’s oldest country by population, with 60 residents aged 100 or over among fewer than 39,000 inhabitants — the highest number of centenarians per capita of any nation.
The latest figures from IMSEE reinforce Monaco’s unique demographic profile. The Principality not only leads the world in centenarians per capita, ahead of Hong Kong, Japan and Uruguay, but also records the planet’s highest proportion of residents aged 65 and over, at around 37%, alongside a life expectancy of 87 years. The new census data offers further insight into how Monaco’s population is continuing to age, while also revealing subtle shifts in the gender balance across different age groups.
Women are catching up
For most of Monaco’s modern history, women have lived significantly longer than men. That gap is narrowing. The average age of residents in 2025 stands at 47.2 years — 47.7 for women, 46.5 for men — and the gender difference has fallen from 3.3 years in 2000 to just 1.2 years today. It is the first time since the turn of the century that the mean age has actually dipped, albeit fractionally.
Before the age of 30, the population is almost perfectly balanced between men and women. In the 55 to 64 bracket — the largest single cohort in the Principality, accounting for 16.2% of all residents — men hold a slight numerical advantage, peaking at 383 men at age 62 compared with 324 women at age 59.
From 70 onwards, the balance tips. Women account for 54.1% of residents aged 70 and over, and by 75 the divergence widens further: women make up 16.3% of the total female population in that age group, against 13.5% of men.
Of Monaco’s 60 centenarians in 2025, the majority were women — consistent with global patterns of female longevity, even as the gap between the sexes continues to close.
A population unlike any other
The shape of Monaco’s age pyramid is striking. Nearly 5,800 residents — 14.9% of the population — are aged 75 or over, a proportion almost identical to that of residents under 16, who account for 15.1%. In most countries, the young significantly outnumber the very old. In Monaco, they are in almost perfect equilibrium.
The total resident population stands at 38,857, split between 19,127 men and 19,730 women. Among the 32,629 adults, more than half are married and nearly a third are single. Men are proportionally more likely to be married than women — 52.7% against 48.5% — while women are more likely to be widowed, a reflection of their longer survival.
Monaco’s longevity is attributed to a combination of factors: advanced medical infrastructure, Mediterranean diet, mild climate, and a resident population with the means to access the best available healthcare. The census suggests those advantages are increasingly shared between the sexes.
See also:
How Monaco’s population has changed over a decade — and who is moving in now
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Photo credit: Cassandra Tanti