diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/group/DefaultGroup.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/group/DefaultGroup.java
index 97f8aed..edd64e3 100644
--- a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/group/DefaultGroup.java
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/group/DefaultGroup.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
     private long bytes;
     private long referenceCount;
     private GroupId id;
+    private int age;
 
     /**
      * Initializes default values.
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@
         packets = 0;
         bytes = 0;
         referenceCount = 0;
+        age = 0;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -128,6 +130,11 @@
         return this.bytes;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public int age() {
+        return age;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Sets the new state for this entry.
      *
@@ -171,6 +178,11 @@
     @Override
     public void setReferenceCount(long referenceCount) {
         this.referenceCount = referenceCount;
+        if (referenceCount == 0) {
+            age++;
+        } else {
+            age = 0;
+        }
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -214,6 +226,7 @@
                 .add("description", super.toString())
                 .add("groupid", id)
                 .add("state", state)
+                .add("age", age)
                 .toString();
     }
 
diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/group/Group.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/group/Group.java
index 5440775..d053029 100644
--- a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/group/Group.java
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/group/Group.java
@@ -96,4 +96,12 @@
      * @return number of flow rules or other groups pointing to this group
      */
     long referenceCount();
+
+    /**
+     * Obtains the age of a group. The age reflects the number of polling rounds
+     * the group has had a reference count of zero.
+     *
+     * @return the age of the group as an integer
+     */
+    int age();
 }