India will become the world’s new engine of economic growth, while China and other “Asian tigers” are starting to age quicker.
The number of people over the age of 65 will increase from 365 million people to more than half a billion by 2027 and will represent 60% of the world’s population by 2030, shows the data presented by Deloitte on Monday.
On the other hand, India will become the third economic power in Asia, after China and Japan, with a potential labor force that will grow from 885 million people to 1.08 billion over the next 20 years.
“India will account for more than half of the Asian labor force’s growth potential, and this does not translate only to an increased number of workers. The young labor force will be better educated and more skilled than today’s Indian workers”, says Anis Chakravarty, an economist from Deloitte India.
However, the economic growth in India will not reach its highest peak unless the authorities develop the necessary policy and legislative framework to support and promote this evolution.
Otherwise, this young population will only pose an increased risk of unemployment and social assistance.
At the opposite end, the countries facing the highest population aging risk in the coming decades are China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and New Zealand.
Australia, which is among the most aging populations, has found the solution: it has opened its doors to educated and highly specialized immigrants to solve problems in the labor market.
Japan is also one of the Asian countries with an aging population, which has already prompted labor shortages in more and more areas.