Wellington seniors prove why age is just a number as predictions show quarter of Kiwis will be over 65 by 2034

It's International Day of Older Persons - and by the year 2034, about a quarter of Kiwis will be over the age of 65.

And as we live longer and work past the retirement age of 65, there are calls for people to be more aware of ageism.

Dancing, shaking and grooving their way into the weekend, some seniors are not feeling their age. 

Newshub attended a Zumba class for seniors where one woman joked they felt "fitter now" than 20 years ago.

And the movement isn't just about exercise.

"It's quite fun and we've made good friends," another woman said. 

New Zealand's aging population is on the rise. In March 2020, almost 16 percent of Kiwis were aged 65 and over - 748,000 people.  

In 13 years, that's forecast to be 1.2 million. 

"People are still working, still living, still loving well after 65… and we don't use those derogatory terms like elderly," Stephanie Clare, Age Concern CEO, told Newshub. 

About one in four people over the retirement age of sixty-five are still working, including 84-year-old Hetty Rodenborg, who's a counsellor.

"Because I love it, I absolutely love it," she says. 

Age Concern says age-related discrimination is common.

"We hear often where someone wants to do extra training or take an extra jump into a senior role and because of their age, they are overlooked," Clare explains. 

Ageism isn't just in the workplace.

"You sort of seem invisible, people don't take much notice and that makes you feel a bit cross," one woman told Newshub. 

Margaret Fairhall, 73, notices it when she goes to the mechanic.

"When I mentioned something about my car they just shrug it off like I'm an old batty woman," she says. 

At Wellington's Seniors week many of those in attendance at the Zumba class appear to have twice as much coordination as someone half their age, proving age really is just a number.