The marital status of older people has a number of socio-economic impacts. This paper presents key findings from a set of population projections for older people by age, sex and marital status for nine European countries. We use original data for national sources but we adjust the mortality and nuptiality rates for older ages by modelling existing cohort data. We then use robust assumptions for improvements in life expectancy at birth and we use these to constrain projection models. The projections refer to the period 2000-2030 and the following countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal and The United Kingdom. Similar trends will occur in all countries; married people will account for most of the increase among those aged 75 and older by 2030, followed by divorced men and women, who exhibit the highest proportional increase.
Keywords: Mortality and nuptiality trends; Population projection.