IETLS writing task 1: Proportion of population ages 65 and over in the US, Sweden and Japan.

The graph below shows the proportion of the population aged 65 and over between 1940 and 2040 in three different countries.

The line graph illustrates the percentage of the age 65 and above population in the US, Sweden and Japan over the course of 80 years starting in 1940 and gives a future forecast for 2040 .

As can be seen in the graph, it is clearly evident that in spite of some fluctuations, the proportion of persons aged 65 and over in three countries all witness an upward trend. By the end the period the allocation of persons aged 65 and over in Japan is predicted to register the highest figure out of all countries studies.

In 1940, the US topped the chart with 9 percent of its population aged 65 and over whilst in Sweden and Japan the figures were 7 percent and 5 percent respectively. The life expectancy at age 65 and over in the US rose to 15 percent in 1980 then remained relatively unchanged at under 15% until 2020 before being predicted to climb rapidly to around 23 percent at the end of the period. A similar pattern could be observed in Sweden as during the first four decades the figure increased by 7 percent then surpassing its the US counterpart as it stood at 20 percent between 2000 and 2020 before being expected to rise to 25 percent at the end of the period.

At the beginning of the period, the percentage of population in Japan aged 65 and over was 5 percent, this figure decreased slightly by 2% in 1960 and stabilized for over 2 decades before jumped back to around 8 percent in 2020. The experts evaluate that this figure will surpass the US and Sweden to rank first in the chart as it will reach a peak at around 27 percent at the end of the period surveyed.