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ADB Flags Aging Issues Across Asia
By Ashok Dasgupta, The Hindu
Feb 25, 2009
Asia
Asia is set to become the ‘oldest’ region in the world in the next few decades and countries will have to take tough policy decisions to cope with the huge economic impact of an aging population, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said.
In a working paper titled ‘Aging in Asia: Trends, Impacts and Responses’, it noted that Asia’s share of the global elderly, which was at 44 per cent in 1950, would rise to 62 per cent by 2050.
Some countries such as Japan — where nearly two out of every five people will be 65 or older by 2050 — already face the challenges of an aging population, such as a declining labour force numbers and spiralling pension and healthcare costs. Developing economies, by contrast, are yet to face such problems: their working populations will continue to expand sharply over the next two decades.
This, however, provides only a narrow window of opportunity to deal with age-related issues, and policymakers need to take advantage of it, the study says. Developing economies in the region need to adopt policies that could include boosting investment in education, improving skill levels, and ensuring that incentives are in place to attract more capital from neighbours with surpluses.
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