More than half of Sri Lankans aged 60 and above are affected by at least one chronic disease, according to the 2024 Census of Population and Housing — a finding the Department of Census and Statistics has highlighted as the country’s ageing accelerates.
Across the whole population, 19.2 percent — around 4.18 million people — reported living with a non-communicable disease in 2024. High blood pressure was the most prevalent at 10.1 percent, followed by diabetes at 8.5 percent. The DCS said both conditions were more widespread among women and among older people, the Daily Mirror reported.
People aged 60 and above now account for 18 percent of the population.
The underlying figures come from the final report of the 2024 census, released in April. What is new is the Department’s specific cut for the over-60s and the expert commentary accompanying it.
Longer life is not the same as healthier life
Prof. Manori Kaluthantiri Weeratunga, President of the Population Association of Sri Lanka and Professor of Demography at the University of Colombo, said rising life expectancy does not mean older people will live without illness.
Some older people have to manage several health conditions simultaneously, she said, alongside age-related changes in mobility, hearing, vision and memory. Sri Lanka therefore needs health services able to support older people continuously, and to help them navigate the different services they require.
She identified strong primary healthcare, regular review of medicines, rehabilitation, mental health support, hearing and vision care, and assistance with daily activities as the areas needing attention. Prevention, proper nutrition and physical activity, she added, should be addressed well before people reach old age.
“Healthcare should ask more than ‘What illness do you have?’ It should also ask, ‘What do you want to continue doing?’”
The demographic backdrop
The census recorded a population of 21.78 million with a median age of 35 and a total fertility rate of 1.3 — far below the 2.1 replacement level. An ageing population combined with sustained below-replacement fertility means the share of over-60s will keep climbing, and with it the share carrying one or more chronic conditions.
That is the policy problem the figures describe: a health system organised around treating discrete illnesses facing a population that increasingly presents with several at once, for decades at a time.