åldrar

Ålder is the Swedish term for the length of time a person or object has existed. The plural form åldrar refers to different ages or age groups. In demography, ålder is used to describe how populations are distributed across ages, while in everyday language it indicates a person’s years of life or the age of an object. Age can be measured in completed years and, for infants, in months or days. In statistics, populations are often divided into age groups (for example, 0–14, 15–24, 25–64, 65+), though exact cutoffs vary by country and purpose.

Age is a central factor in many social and economic policies. It influences education, employment, healthcare, taxation, and eligibility for services or rights such as driving, drinking, voting, and pensions. Global increases in life expectancy have transformed age structures, leading to larger shares of older people in many societies and affecting labor markets, public finances, and intergenerational transfers.

Demographic indicators describe age structure, including median age, age dependency ratio, and population pyramids. Accurate age data come from censuses, vital statistics, and surveys, though misreporting and underregistration can affect estimates. Across cultures, age also conveys social roles and rites of passage—childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and elder status—with terminology varying by language.

See also: aging, life expectancy, demographics, age group.