Yahoo Finance World ageing at record pace
The world is getting old rapidly, putting global economies in the firing line.
A ‘demographic tax’ imposed by the unprecedented rate of ageing will slow economic growth over the next 20 years, a new report has found.
A staggering 13 countries are on their way to becoming ‘super-aged’ by 2020, which means 20 per cent of their population will be 65 or older.
Related: What it costs to retire in the world's best places
By 2030, 34 countries will have made the grade.
Only three countries are already classified as ‘super-aged’ societies – Germany, Italy and Japan.
According to the Moody’s Investors Service report, world-wide ageing will mean a lower supply of labour and a decline in savings rates that will reduce investment.
While it is often believed that ageing populations is a first-world problem, the highlights that both developed and emerging market economies will be negatively affected.
Countries such as Russia, Thailand, Chile and China are seeing rapidly deteriorating demographics while even relatively young countries such as Brazil and Turkey are ageing.
Related: Top ways to retire a millionaire
"Demographic transition…is upon us now,” Moody's Senior Vice President Elena Duggar said.
"Estimates show that ageing will reduce aggregate annual economic growth by 0.4 percentage point in 2014-19 and by a much larger 0.9 percentage point in 2020-25," continues Ms. Duggar.
The authors of the report do however say policymakers can mitigate the effects.
They say countries can soften the blow of an ageing population by making policy changes to immigration to expand the workforce and by investing in technology to increase productivity.
