[How is it with the "elderly wave"].

Data from Statistics Norway is used in this study of demographic development till 2020 in the population of the very old. There is a marked increase in the percentage of elderly women (80 years and over) in the population, from 2% in 1970 to nearly 5% in 1993. This is related to increased life expectancy and occurred parallel to a reduced rate in cardio-vascular mortality, which also occurred in men. However, in men this reduction is counter balanced by a serious increase, nearly 50%, in age-specific cancer mortality. The predictions for the population seem somewhat ambiguous, in particular as regards the percentage of elderly women, which is underestimated. There are significant regional differences with regard to the expected development in the population of people 80 years and older. On the whole, these differences do not seem to be related to mortality.