A new report by Statistics Canada says that the country’s population has become younger for the first time since 1971, reversing a long demographic trend that saw the Canadian population grow steadily older.
The median age of people living in Canada in 2022 fell to 41, the first decline in more than 50 years, according to StatsCan.
The median age had risen steadily from 26.2 in 1971 to 41.1 in 2021 as the population increasingly aged.
The Ottawa-based statistics agency said the reversal in the population’s median age has been driven by the federal government’s open immigration policies.
In recent years, Canada has ramped up its efforts to bring in working-age immigrants to replace workers who are retiring from the labor force and offset a decline in fertility rates.
In the second quarter of this year, Canada recorded its fastest rate of population growth since 1957 due entirely to immigration.
Countries with the world’s youngest populations include developing nations such as Niger, Uganda and Angola, said StatsCan.
Developed nations such as Japan and Germany have some of the oldest populations in the world at about age 50.
