The age of pilgrims seems to be changing...

[JohnnieWalker]

See the analysis of the August statistics by pilgrim and commentator Fraluchi:

http://www.johnniewalker-santiago.blogspot.com

"There is a definite shift within pilgrims’ age groups. Whereas those between 30 and 60 years old remained at 56% of all pilgrims, the more than 60 years old increased by 2 percentage points (14% in 2013; 12% in 2012)..."

Best regards

John

 

[jirit]

See the analysis of the August statistics by pilgrim and commentator Fraluchi:

http://www.johnniewalker-santiago.blogspot.com

"There is a definite shift within pilgrims’ age groups. Whereas those between 30 and 60 years old remained at 56% of all pilgrims, the more than 60 years old increased by 2 percentage points (14% in 2013; 12% in 2012)..."

Best regards

John

We are all getting a bit older I guess. Seriously probably something to do with more boomers walking the camino maybe ?

 

[indyinmaine]

See the analysis of the August statistics by pilgrim and commentator Fraluchi:

http://www.johnniewalker-santiago.blogspot.com

"There is a definite shift within pilgrims’ age groups. Whereas those between 30 and 60 years old remained at 56% of all pilgrims, the more than 60 years old increased by 2 percentage points (14% in 2013; 12% in 2012)..."

Best regards

John

GO 60+!

 

[jirit]

What the statistics don't show is the the country of origin for the people starting from each location. However I have a theory that goes like this:

More Spaniards are starting in the traditional starting locations like O'Cebreiro and Sarria since to due the current economic conditions this is the most affordable solution that allows them to at least walk the camino, and earn an Compostela (which is good for the résumé), as compared to starting somewhere further east like Burgos or Leon. My experience also suggests most Spaniards are in the 30-60 age group, and again they can only afford a limited time off to walk the camino due to family and work commitments. The drop in the number of Spaniards from approx 70% to under 50% reflects this significant change.

Likewise more experienced pilgrims (those that have walked the camino Frances already) will more than likely try another route, typically from my experience, the Portuguese route or Camino Primitivo or Camino Norte. Just following the threads of conversations on this forum suggest these routes are common alternatives to the camino Frances route. The rise in the number of people walking the other routes as a percentage, reflects this change, though it is not significant.

The newbies (those that have never walked the camino) are started where many of us did before, in places like Saint Jean or Roncesvalles, or even Pamplona. More and more of the newbies are arriving from native English speaking conuntries like the USA, Australia and the New Zealand. Given the distance involved most make this "the trip of a life time", taking off more time to walk a longer distance. I would also suggest that many of the newbies are boomers which itself is mostly an American, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand demographic. Boomers are described as wealthier, healthy and more traveled than any other age group before them, and thus might be described as having the luxury and time to travel the longer distances for longer times.

Saint Jean, Roncesvalles and Pamplona are ideal gateways to people arriving from outside Europe. Both the significant rise in the number of people from native English speaking countries and the number of people starting in places like Saint Jean, Roncesvalles and Pamplona reflect this significant change.

 

[tyrrek]

I'm still not convinced by the economic arguments for the numbers and proportions of Spanish pilgrims in recent years. The figures are awkward to analyse in .pdf form and I'm too lazy to shift them all to Excel, but there's still a huge increase in the numbers since before the financial crisis circa 2008. It's only the proportion that has dropped, in other words, the numbers from elsewhere are growing even faster. The exception (apart from the inevitable fall after Holy Year) was last year where both the number and proportion dropped.

I'm minded to put the Spanish figures in relation to the rest of the world in part down to 2 things;
1) A high baseline. The Spanish have been aware of the Camino for years, so it's a more 'mature market' if you like. Other countries may still be seeing exponential growth in pilgrim numbers.
2) The impact of the Holy Year is different in Spain from elsewhere. It receives more coverage on TV etc, so those who realised they had missed out at the time of all the festivities may have had the seed planted for the following year. This would lead to a more prolonged fall back to the general trend.

I would have thought the Camino would be a great option for a break when money is tight, spirits are low, and you have a bit of time on your hands. Students must make up a huge proportion of pilgrims of traditional student age - in 2012 some 28% of all pilgrims were under 30 and 18% of all pilgrims were students - and students are famously skint. Add to that the fact that many of Spain's economic issues are to do with the property bubble, and people who may still have a decent income might not feel that they are sitting on thousands of euros of property equity any more and opt for a break closer to home.

Buen Camino!

 

[vicrev]

Go the wrinklies !!!!....Vicrev

 

[MichaelB10398]

This increase could be that our more senior segment of society is continuing to be more active in life and they have the freedom to explore these types of experiences more easily than those in the middle years that are so dedicated to exceling in a chosen career, growing a family, and parenting.

It will be interesting to see how things progress over the next five years.

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

Go the wrinklies !!!!....Vicrev

Some of us oldies put on just enough weight to iron out the wrinkles!

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

Is there any chance of increasing the analysis, to, maybe 60-70, 71-80 and 81+ ?

 

[vicrev]

I had better start piling on some weight to reverse the ageing process........thanks Stephen N.......if my good wife complains I'll just say I saw it on this Forum,so it must be right..............Vicrev