Spatial differentiation of the elderly population in Poland’s voivodeships in the years 2000-2016

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to analyse the direction and pace of changes in the segment of people in identified age groups within the overall population of Polish voivodeships during the years 2000-2016 with the use of rates that describe demographic ageing phases. The analysis presents changes in the structure of the population aged 60 and -more from a regional perspective. In this structure, three age groups were distinguished: 60-74 years, 75-84 years and 85 and over. Research method – The analysis was carried out using the demographic ageing rate, coefficients representing the old age phase, sigma-convergence analysis based on the coefficient of variation and Ward’s non-linear clustering method. Data from the Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office were used for analyses. The data was analysed in a static approach for the selected years 2000, 2010 and 2016 and in dynamic terms for the years 2000-2016. Results – The results of the analyses show that the changes taking place in the population ageing process have different intensity in individual voivodeships. During the analysed period, the process of population ageing can be observed in all voivodeships (a growing percentage of people aged 60 and more in the total population). There are also changes in the age structure of the population in the indicated groups of demographic ageing. Gradual spatial convergence of the country with respect to the components of the structure of the elderly is evident