Which Country Has the Best Elderly Care?

As both our quality of life and the medical care available to us improve, human average life expectancy is increasing.

We're therefore seeing greater numbers of older adults in our societies and communities than ever before.

With the number of adults at retirement age expected to grow in all regions of the world, we need high-quality elderly care services to accommodate the world’s ageing population.

Read on to find out which countries have the best elderly care – and where the UK factors in.

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Which Countries Have the Best Elderly Care?

Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Canada and the United States are the countries with the best elderly care. Meanwhile, Great Britain ranks in the top 15.

This is based on factors such as pensions coverage, healthcare systems, care services – including residential and nursing homes – social support and government grants.

When we look at the countries doing it right, it could be said that the UK has some way to go if we want to rank at the top of the list for elderly care.

However, although it’s true that we have some catching up to do, care solutions are being developed and discussed all the time that could have a serious impact on the UK care systems of the future.

The Countries With the Best Elderly Care

As issues like feelings of isolation and health barriers make it even harder to continue living in our own homes, care homes and other care services must step in to help. When it’s time to take care of older adults, these are the countries getting it right:

Norway

With its strong sense of community, 100% pension coverage and financial security for older adults, it’s no wonder that Norway is consistently found in the number one spot. Norway also has the best income and employment rates for older adults.

Sweden

Coming in at a close second, Sweden funds its elderly care with municipal taxes and government grants. These subsidised costs mean that older adults are much happier and more comfortable in their care homes, reporting high rates of satisfaction with safety and civic freedom, as well as public transport.

Switzerland

Swiss healthcare in general is pretty amazing – and this is no exception when it comes to elderly care. Older adults in Switzerland report feeling safe and supported in their own homes and can expect to live into their mid-80s in relatively good health. Switzerland also has an above regional average rate of older people’s feeling of social connectedness and civic freedom satisfaction. Impressive!

Germany

Although it doesn’t yet offer 100% pension coverage, Germany is making waves with its research into new technology that could further improve and empower its care system. Germany also ranks highly for social connectedness and civic freedom for its older population.

Canada

Canadians have the longest life expectancy in the world, so this country is obviously doing a great job caring for older adults! Good pensions, income security and top-notch social support have helped Canada to earn its spot in the top five. In fact, Canada’s capital, Ottawa, has even pledged to invest a large sum of money over the next decade to support its ageing population and home-care programmes.

The US

The United States consistently performs well in care service ratings- and with the spacious care facilities and bright, airy bedrooms available to care seekers, living in an American care home is unsurprisingly a much sought-after luxury. Across the US, older adults consistently score this country highly for safety and social connectedness.

Great Britain

So, where does Great Britain rank? Well, the good news is that GB usually ranks in the top 15 countries – and sometimes in the top ten!

Although we’re not yet in a medal position alongside the Scandinavian countries, we're nonetheless providing a good standard of care for older adults, with high levels of satisfaction for social connectedness, safety and civic freedom.

By taking inspiration from and adopting the most successful methods used by the top-ranking countries, we will be able to provide even better care for older adults in the future.

Other countries that consistently come top of the list of great places for older adults to live include Japan, The Netherlands and Iceland.

Best Elderly Care By Continent

For the 94 countries recorded in the 2023 Health Care Index, scores vary from 85.9 (Taiwan) to Venezuela (39.3).

Here are the countries with the best elderly care in each continent:

Continent	Which Country Has the Best Elderly Care?	Health Care Index Score
Africa	South Africa	63.7
Asia	Taiwan	85.9
Europe	France	79.4
North and Central America	Mexico	72.5
Oceania	Australia	75.3
South America	Ecuador	69.5

Health Care Index Score

The Health Care Index Score measures the quality of the health care systems in different countries. Overall health care is important to everyone, but especially older adults. Here are the top 30 countries:

Rank	Country	Health Care Index Score
1	Taiwan	85.9
2	South Korea	83.0
3	Japan	80.3
4	France	79.4
5	Denmark	79.2
6	Spain	77.9
7	Thailand	77.9
8	Austria	77.2
9	Netherlands	77.1
10	Finland	77.1
11	Norway	76.7
12	Czech Republic	75.5
13	Australia	75.3
14	Belgium	75.2
15	Luxembourg	75.0
16	Switzerland	74.5
17	United Kingdom	74.1
18	Estonia	74.1
19	Qatar	73.8
20	Israel	73.5
21	Lithuania	73.2
22	Mexico	72.5
23	Sri Lanka	72.0
24	Germany	71.9
25	Portugal	71.5
26	New Zealand	71.0
27	Turkey	71.0
28	Singapore	70.9
29	Canada	70.4
30	Malaysia	70.0

Source: Health Care Index (2023)

Different Care Systems

Different countries have their own care systems. The following are some examples of different types of care system around the world:

Staggered care systems

The UK follows a ‘staggered care’ system, where older adults are gradually given more support as they age; from initial home help with tasks like cooking and cleaning, to care and medical support from trained carers who either visit their home daily or live there with them, all the way to going into a residential care home or nursing care home permanently.

Private care systems

In the US, the care system is largely private. For example, the Medicaid health programme helps older adults with their medical costs, including covering 61% of their nursing home care. If an older adult wants to move into a nursing home, these are often funded by private healthcare too.

Publicly funded care systems

In Belgium, most of the care is publicly funded by social contributions and general taxes. What’s more, in Belgium family members do their best to ensure that their elderly relatives can stay in their own homes for as long as possible. Belgium also offers ‘service flats’ for older adults who want to live independently, but still have access to home help services, assisted living and cooked meals if they need them.

Cohabiting care systems

In countries like Germany, a cohabiting scheme means older adults can live together in a community apartment to better promote independence while also giving them the opportunity to socialise. Germany also has ‘multigeneration’ centres which older adults and young families alike can visit for a spot of socialising or to use the care services available.

Family care systems

Countries like Italy don’t tend to have as many care homes as other countries. This is because in Italy, elderly care is seen to be the responsibility of the family – so the majority of older people will continue to live at home for the duration of their old age, supported and cared for by their family members. If a person has no family members, this is the moment where Italian institutions will step in to help.

Best Countries For Elderly People To Live In

Overall Ranking	Country	Life Expectancy	Health Care Index Score	World Happiness Report Score	Safety Index Score
1	Switzerland	84.3	74.5	7.571	76.4
2	Finland	82.5	77.1	7.804	73.2
3	Denmark	81.4	79.2	7.586	73.4
4	Netherlands	82.8	77.1	7.464	72.7
5	Taiwan	81.0	85.9	6.584	83.8
6	Japan	85.0	80.3	5.94	76.9
7	Austria	82.1	77.2	7.268	72.7
8	Iceland	83.5	67.0	7.53	75.1
9	Norway	82.9	76.7	7.392	66.5
10	Israel	83.5	73.5	7.157	67.4
11	Spain	84.0	77.9	6.491	64.3
12	Luxembourg	82.8	75.0	7.324	64.9
13	South Korea	83.5	83.0	5.845	74.5
14	Czech Republic	79.9	75.5	6.965	73.4
15	Singapore	84.1	70.9	6.377	70.8
16	Australia	83.9	75.3	7.183	54.5
17	Germany	81.9	71.9	7.155	62.4
18	United Arab Emirates	78.5	69.6	6.561	84.9
19	Estonia	79.2	74.1	6.189	74.9
20	Slovenia	81.9	65.3	6.461	75.8
21	Canada	83.0	70.4	7.103	55.7
22	Hong Kong	85.3	65.8	5.477	78.5
23	New Zealand	82.8	71.0	7.277	54.2
24	France	83.1	79.4	6.69	44.7
25	Sweden	83.3	68.6	7.363	51.5
26	Portugal	82.7	71.5	5.929	68.5
27	United Kingdom	81.8	74.1	7.064	53.1
28	Belgium	82.2	75.2	6.834	50.9
29	Italy	84.0	66.3	6.483	53.1
30	Thailand	77.7	77.9	5.985	61.3
31	Croatia	79.0	63.9	5.882	75.4
32	Lithuania	76.4	73.2	6.255	67.0
33	Saudi Arabia	75.7	61.2	6.494	75.4
34	Slovakia	78.0	60.1	6.331	68.6
35	Poland	79.3	57.6	6.166	70.8
36	United States	79.1	68.6	6.951	51.0
37	Cyprus	81.5	54.7	6.223	68.6
38	Malta	83.1	45.4	6.602	57.5
39	Ireland	82.8	51.8	7.085	54.1
40	China	77.5	67.5	5.339	73.7
41	Costa Rica	80.9	63.1	7.069	46.2
42	Panama	79.1	61.0	6.18	56.3
43	Uruguay	78.4	68.4	6.431	47.3
44	Turkey	78.5	71.0	4.948	59.9
45	Kuwait	75.9	59.7	6.106	67.4
46	Romania	76.5	56.5	6.14	68.0
47	Chile	80.7	64.4	6.172	41.9
48	Latvia	75.7	62.4	6.032	62.3
49	Mexico	75.4	72.5	6.317	45.6
50	Sri Lanka	77.6	72.0	4.325	58.6
51	Greece	82.8	.57.5	5.723	53.0
52	Hungary	77.3	54.4	5.992	66.1
53	Colombia	77.9	67.9	6.012	39.8
54	Ecuador	77.7	69.5	5.764	40.6
55	Guatemala	75.1	67.5	6.435	40.3
56	Philippines	71.7	67.8	5.88	57.3
57	Serbia	76.5	52.2	6.078	61.8
58	Bosnia and Herzegovina	77.9	54.9	5.813	57.1
59	Malaysia	76.7	70.0	5.384	47.1
60	Argentina	77.2	68.9	5.929	35.7
61	Lebanon	79.3	63.2	4.584	53.8
62	Georgia	74.2	54.8	4.891	74.1
63	Russia	73.0	59.7	5.477	60.7
64	Bulgaria	75.5	56.7	5.266	62.0
65	Vietnam	75.8	59.3	5.411	55.5
66	Brazil	76.6	58.2	6.33	33.4
67	Albania	79.0	49.6	5.117	54.3
68	Kazakhstan	73.9	59.9	6.152	47.3
69	North Macedonia	76.3	55.3	5.101	59.1
70	Jordan	75.0	64.9	4.395	59.0
71	Nepal	71.7	57.0	5.269	62.4
72	Azerbaijan	73.3	46.8	5.171	68.2
73	Tunisia	77.4	57.1	4.596	55.4
74	Indonesia	72.3	60.5	5.345	54.1
75	Peru	77.4	55.9	5.84	32.4
76	Pakistan	67.8	59.5	4.934	57.7
77	India	70.4	65.1	3.819	55.4
78	Morocco	77.4	45.8	4.918	53.2
79	Algeria	77.5	53.6	4.887	47.4
80	Iran	77.3	52.3	4.721	50.1
81	Dominican Republic	74.7	55.5	5.545	38.8
82	Belarus	75.2	47.1	5.534	43.6
83	Ukraine	72.5	55.2	4.875	53.3
84	South Africa	64.9	63.7	4.956	24.6
85	Kenya	67.5	61.8	4.607	43.0
86	Iraq	71.1	43.5	4.854	53.9
87	Egypt	72.5	47.6	4.283	52.8
88	Bangladesh	73.6	42.3	5.025	37.4
89	Venezuela	72.3	39.3	4.892	17.4
90	Nigeria	55.8	48.5	4.759	34.5

Our findings show that the best country for older adults to live in is Switzerland. Switzerland has the 3rd highest life expectancy, the 16th highest Health Care Index score, the 3rd highest score on the World Happiness Report and the 5th highest Safety Index score.

The other countries which make up the top five are Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom ranks all the way down at No. 27. The United Kingdom has the 27th highest life expectancy, the 17th highest Health Care Index score, the 17th highest score on the World Happiness Report and the 62nd highest Safety Index score.

From the countries we collected data on, our findings show that the worst country for older adults to live in is Nigeria. The other countries in the bottom five are Venezuela, Bangladesh, Egypt and Iraq.

Sources:

Life expectancy (2020)

Health Care Index (2023)

World Happiness Report (2023)

Safety Index (2023)

Other sources

https://www.cbsnews.com/media/the-10-best-countries-to-live-in-for-people-over-60/

https://healthcare-digital.com/digital-healthcare/what-do-care-systems-look-around-world

https://melrosecare.co.uk/2020/02/10/which-countries-are-the-best-when-it-comes-to-elderly-care/ https://arosacare.com/senior-care-around-the-world/

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Which Country Has the Best Elderly Care? | Lottie (2024)