(PARIS) - The population of the European Union is rapidly ageing, with one woman in two and one man in five over 75 years of age living alone today, according to the bloc's Eurostat statistical agency.

The figures, covering all 27 member EU states except Bulgaria and Romania, show that on average some 52 percent of women and 21 percent of men aged 75 and over lived on their own in 2005.

As regards the 65-74 age group, 30 percent of women and 13 percent of men lived alone, the report said.

The discrepancy between women and men reflects the fact that up to now women have tended to live longer than men, which means that overall they make up 59 percent of over 65s, with the imbalance increasing with age.

Britain had the largest proportion of men of 75 and over living alone, at just over 30 percent, whereas the figure was under 25 percent in all the other EU countries.

For women over 75, Germany and the Netherlands had the largest proportion living alone -- over 60 percent.

Not far behind were the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Slovenia, Finland and Britain, where the figure was between 55 and 60 percent.

According to the 2005 figures, at the age of 65, women in the EU can expect to live just over 20 years more on average, while men can expect to live around 17 years.

But as life expectancy grows and birth rates fall across the EU, around one-third of the bloc's population could be over the age of 65 by 2050.

Only three years ago, just 16.5 percent of the inhabitants of the EU's current 27 members were over 65. The proportion is expected to grow to 18 percent by 2010, 25 percent by 2030 and 30 percent by 2050.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.