Depression is a common psychiatric morbidity affecting all ages and genders. Elderly populations are at higher risk of developing depression. Several biological, psychological as well as social factors attribute to depression in elderly. Depression leads to significant mortality and morbidity. The quality of life and the functioning also gets grossly affected by depression. Depression is often under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed in elderly due to atypical presentation and presence of other physical co-morbidities. Hence understanding depression and its risk factors is of utmost importance for achieving better clinical outcome.