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Seniors now outnumber children in 35 of Canada's 41 metropolitan areas (lemmy.ca)
submitted 4 weeks ago by to c/canada@lemmy.ca
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Stats put together be redditor

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[–] 7 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (4 children)

This is because of an aging society, and Canada is among the majority of countries that will experience such a shift.

Globally, the number of people aged 60 years and older outnumbered children younger than 5 years already in 2020, according to the World Health Organization. Between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world's population over 60 years will nearly double from 12% to 22%.

Among the larger economies, China is among the most effected by an aging society (far more than Canada). The number of people over 60 years will reach 28% by 2040, the WHO says. Some experts fear that China gets old before it gets rich, stating that in 2019, around 75% of older people (aged 60 years or older) in China suffered from noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension.

In 2050, 80% of older people will be living in low- and middle-income countries, according to the WHO forecast.

[Edit typo.]

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  • [–] 2 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

    Currently, China has about 11.9 % of its population over 65, way down the list at 21 in the world. Japan has the highest with 28.2 % of its population over 65.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 weeks ago* (1 child)

    Yes, currently. But China's population will age faster than in almost all other countries. China has one of the world's lowest fertility rates. The number of working-age people peaked already in 2015 and has been decreasing ever since. By 2050, there will be fewer than 2 working-age individuals for every person ages 65 and older (for comparison: in the U.S., there will be 2.5 working-age adults per for every person 65+ in 2050).

    The problem is that China is still not a high-income country. Unlike many other countries, China hasn't benefited from what is called a demographic dividend—a time of economic growth driven by a large working-age population compared with smaller numbers of dependents ages 65 and older and younger than 15.

    It is true that China experienced unprecedented economic growth during its dividend period in the 1980s and 1990s, but this growth started later than in countries like, for example, Singapore and Japan, and its fertility rate decline has also been faster since. As a result, it exited its demographic dividend era with quite relatively low income per capita, and this threatens to leave the country with fewer resources to care for an aging population.

    Simply speaking, countries like Japan, Singapore, and the U.S. got rich before they got old, China got old before it got rich.

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