EFAREuropean Federation for Aging Research
EFAR›The Science

Europe is aging faster than it is preparing to.

The biology of human aging has moved from academic curiosity to the central public-health question of the continent. EFAR exists to give European geroscience the coordinated voice that the scale of the problem demands.

By the middle of this century, within the working life of a researcher starting today, almost one in three Europeans will be older than sixty-five. More than ten of those years, on average, will be spent with disease.

The demographic case

In 1965, roughly one in ten Europeans was older than sixty-five. By 2019, the share had doubled. The European Commission's 2024 Ageing Report projects that, by 2050, it will approach one in three.

The biology of human aging is no longer an academic curiosity. It is the central public-health question of the continent: the social and economic consequences of an ever-growing population requiring sustained medical care will fundamentally challenge the future of Europe.

30%20%10%01965199020192050*10%20%≈ 30%
Fig. 1.Share of European population aged 65 or older, 1965–2050. Source · Eurostat & UN DESA. Projection beyond 2025 dashed. * 2050 projected.
1 / 3Europeans over 65 by 2050UN DESA · 2050 projection
10 yrsOf life, on average, spent with diseaseNature Aging · 2026
50%+Of those over 65 live with multimorbidityDivo et al. · 2014

The geroscience hypothesis

The geroscience hypothesis proposes that healthy aging and disease prevention can be achieved by interventions that target the mechanisms of aging itself. Recent fundamental advances, many of them European, have demonstrated that effective improvements in health maintenance into old age, disease-risk reduction, and disease prevention are possible.

Europe has strong institutions in education and science, and has continuously contributed to breakthrough discoveries in the biology of aging. EFAR exists to ensure that contribution is given a single, audible voice in European science policy.

The fragmentation problem

Despite that strength, the European aging-research landscape remains structurally fragmented. National funding agencies vary widely in their focus and are often underfunded; private foundations are typically limited to specific countries; cross-border collaboration is challenging.

By contrast, regions such as the United States have, for half a century, operated a dedicated governmental aging-research funding mechanism (the National Institute on Aging). EFAR advocates for a comparable European mechanism, at the scale that the demographic case requires.

The European aging research landscape remains highly fragmented.
Schumacher, Scheibye-Knudsen, Rasmussen & Kuipers, Nature Aging, April 2026

The founding article

The federation's case is set out in a correspondence published in Nature Aging in April 2026.

Read in Nature Aging