Bulgaria ranks fifth in the world by the share of elderly people - over 25% of Bulgarians are over 60, according to UN statistics. It was presented by Ivan Neikov from the Balkan Social Policy Institute during a discussion on the active life of the elderly in Bulgaria, organized by the social ministry, Darik Radio reported.

With a higher percentage of the elderly people are only Sweden, Italy, Germany and Japan. They are, however, among the twenty most advanced and are given as an example of a way of life, Neykov commented.

In Europe, there is a rapid increase in the average life span - from the beginning of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century it has increased by 2.5 times, said Prof. Georgi Burardov, a professor at Sofia University. In his words in countries such as Italy, Malta and Greece, society is already accepting young people to be those of 50 years of age.

Although we are one of the leading countries in the world and Europe in number of elderly, Bulgaria is among the countries with the lowest average life expectancy, said Associate Professor Georgi Bardarov. According to the data presented by him, for only 15 years the average age of the population in Bulgaria has increased by 3 years.