More than 800 people aged 60 or older got married last year

There were more than 800 marriages involving people aged 60 and older last year, with older men twice as likely to tie the knot, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The CSO report, published on Friday, analysed statistics on the lives of older people in the population. The figures showed there were 552 grooms last year who got married when they were 60 or older, and 227 brides.

In the first half of this year there were more than 100,000 people aged 65 and older working, the CSO said.

Nearly a third of people aged between 65 and 74 were caring for a non-family member on a weekly basis, the figures said.

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The State body that examines statistics said the population of those 65 and older was projected to double to 1.6 million people by 2051.

Currently nearly half of people aged 75 and older reported having never used the internet, the CSO report said.

Two thirds of people aged between 65 and 70 were overweight or obese, while 60 per cent of those aged 75 and above deemed their own health to be good.

Only six per cent of people aged 75 and older reported smoking daily, compared to a fifth of the younger generation aged 25 to 34.

The CSO said more than 224,000 people aged 65 and older had no formal education.

Around half of journeys older people reported making were to head out for shopping, eating or drinking. The CSO report said a third of people aged 75 or older said they regularly travelled by bus, while two thirds said they drove.

The percentage of older people who are farmers has increased over the last 30 years, up from 23 per cent of people 65+ in 1991 to 33 per cent of farmers in 2020.

Around 12 per cent of people aged 65 and older were living in consistent poverty, the CSO figures stated.