Salient to Investors:
In most countries, the population is ageing as people are living longer and having fewer children.
A child born in 1960 could expect to live for 52 years, born today 69 years, by 2050 well over 70.
In 1960, there were 33 births for every 1,000 people, today it is 20, and is expected to decline further as people in the developing world have fewer children.
Given these trends, the global population will stabilise, though at a substantially higher number than now.
In 1950, 8% of the population were over 60, today it is 11% and by 2050 it will be 22% says the UN. In Japan, Macau and South Korea, it will be over 40%.
Many state pensions come from contributions made by current taxpayers, so there will be fewer taxpayers to pay more pensions. For private pensions, some economists think they will be impacted by a smaller working population depressing the value of financial assets.
In much of Africa, less than 5% of the current workforce are building up pension rights. In many Asian countries, including China and India, it is between 5% and 25%.
In developing countries, a typical older person will have fewer children to rely on, and those links would be undermined by younger people migrating from rural to urban areas in search of work.
Read the full article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11281670
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