This progress report on the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, 2021–2030 (the Decade) developed by UN partners, provides comparisons of 10 national progress indicators for the Decade in 2020 and 2022. It is based on the four areas of action for the Decade and its specific aims are to:

• assess the extent of progress made in the first phase of implementation of the Decade, from 2021 to mid-2023;
• present contributions to the Decade being made by stakeholder groups, including Member States, UN agencies, civil society, academia, the private sector, community groups, and older people themselves; and
• inspire and motivate stakeholders to collaborate in their continued efforts to implement the Decade at country level and scale up interventions to ensure healthy ageing.

When Member States adopted the Decade, they requested UN partners and WHO to report on progress in implementing the Decade to both the UN General Assembly and to the World Health Assembly, in 2023, 2026, and 2029. Progress is monitored by measuring 10 national progress indicators developed for the WHO Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health (2016-2020), and endorsed for the Decade by Member States, within a broader monitoring and evaluation framework. Member States’ reporting on the 10 indicators forms the basis of this report, in which progress is defined as "an increase from baseline in the proportion of countries with policies, strategies, action plans, programmes, and data to support implementation of the four action areas of the Decade".

Progress has been made in the first phase of the Decade, despite the challenges the world has faced since 2020. Increases in implementation between 2020 and 2022 were greater than 20% for four of the indicators: having legislation against age-based discrimination, having legislation to support older people’s access to assistive products, having a national programme for age-friendly cities and communities, and having a national policy on comprehensive assessments of health and social care needs. Member States have also developed new policies, strategies, and frameworks, established new mechanisms, and strengthened collection of data on healthy ageing. A wide range of stakeholders have formed partnerships and advocated for change. Older people themselves are engaged and are raising their voices.