ISLANDERS may need to work for longer as pensioners become a larger proportion of the population, the Chief Minister has said.
While stopping short of saying the retirement age could be increased, Senator Lyndon Farnham said that all Islanders should “stay as economically active as we possibly can for much longer”.
His comments came after statistics released this week which showed that the number of over-65s increased by 13% in the past five years, while the number of under-16s living in Jersey dropped by 7%.
The Chief Minister said: “We’ll have to balance the working-age population with birth rates and immigration. And of course, the good news is we’re all going to live longer.”
Jersey’s total population was estimated to sit at 104,490 at the end of 2025, a similar figure to 2024.
But, between 2020 and 20205, the number of under-16s decreased by 1,160, and the number of 16-to-39-year-olds decreased by 850 – 3%.
Meanwhile, there are 1,860 more people aged 65 to 79 and 510 more people aged 80 and over. The group aged 40 to 60 has also increased by 650 or 2%.
Jersey’s ageing population figures reflect a global trend, which is expected to impact economies as the demand for support grows but the number of working-age peopel declines.
Senator Farnham said that the Island’s tax income is currently “being protected by the number of people coming here to work”.
“That’s OK for now,” he said. “In five to ten years’ time, it becomes a bit more challenging.”
Senator Farnham said the future demographics of the Island had been modelled “over a number of years” and said that the 2027 Budget – set to be released next week – will “start to demonstrate the support we’re giving to young families, new parents and such forth”.
Meanwhile the Island’s schools would need to be “right-sized to deal with the birth rate”, and the impact of a smaller number of births was already being felt in schools, he said.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a Chamber of Commerce event in which he set out some of the broad themes of the upcoming Budget and the four-year political term.
He said the Budget would be focused around the “broad priorities” of helping with the cost of living, restoring Jersey’s competitiveness, investing in Jersey and maintaining financial stability.
