As of 2018, there are 13.1 million people aged 65 or over living in France, or one in five inhabitants. The country will have aged by 2070, with senior citizens expected to account for 29% of the population. However, the proportion of young senior citizens (aged 65-74) should remain largely stable, whereas that of older senior citizens (aged 75 or over) is due to increase. Population ageing is not a new phenomenon: the number of senior citizens has doubled almost every 50 years since 1920, and the corresponding share of the population has risen from 9% in 1920 to 20% in 2018. This can be explained by the increase in life expectancy since the end of the nineteenth century. The mean rate of ageing over the next 50 years should be of the same order as that seen over the last 50 years. Furthermore, ageing across France is not an isolated phenomenon: it is comparable to what has been observed throughout Europe over the last three decades. The oldest departments are those of the Massif Central and the South, while the youngest are Mayotte, Guiana, Réunion and those of Île-de-France.

In comparison with girls, a slightly greater number of boys are being born, yet they are in the minority by the age of 65, and only 23% of people aged 95 are men. If the spread in life expectancy between women and men continues to narrow, the age pyramid ought to become more balanced by 2070, with 39% of those aged 95 being men.

Nearly all senior citizens are living at home at the age of 80. Only from 100 years of age does institutional living overtake living at home. Among those living at home, the number of people living alone or as a couple has risen over the last 50 years, but the proportion of senior citizens living with a relative (most often a child) has fallen considerably.