As the world ages...

From The Economist:

As the world gets healthier and wealthier, people are living longer. And with fertility rates declining in many rich countries, the number of elderly people as a share of those of working age is projected to rise sharply over the next 40 years, according to the European Commission.

The biggest absolute increase in the old-age dependency ratio will be in Japan, which will jump from 35.1% in 2010, already the world’s highest, to 73.8% by 2050. At that point, the number of pensioners in China will be equivalent to 38.8% of its labour force, up from 11.6% in 2010.

The European Union, which had 84.6m elderly people last year, will have 148.4m in 2050. And the ratio for the world as a whole will more than double to over 25%.