The changing age composition as a risk factor

The irreversible change in a population’s age composition, or population ageing, as it is known to those who study demographics, is one of the most obvious consequences of the demographic revolution. It should be noted that population ageing manifests itself in the late phases of the demographic revolution, with the onset of a low birth rate in response to the reduction in mortality. At present, this situation is pertinent to all developed countries, but not to the developing world. The fact that the decreasing birth rate lags behind the reduction in mortality results in younger age groups accounting for an extremely high proportion of the total population. One consequence of this is that different country groups and regions become polarized in terms of their age composition.

In the countries with the lowest median age, over a third of the adult population is made up of adolescents and young people aged between 15 and 25. The figure is twice as high in low-income countries as in high-income ones. It is also fairly high in medium-income countries, but is still lower than that for low-income countries and is evidently decreasing.

The huge number of young people and adolescents, essentially children, often poorly educated or not educated at all, growing up in poor countries with high levels of unemployment, possessing no tangible future and zero life experience, are easily manipulated with catchy slogans appealing to blind faith rather than rational thinking. Hence the political term “youth bulge,” is associated with a high risk of political upheavals and the emergence of extremist political regimes whose existence jeopardizes the current international security system.

Example # 2: Longevity of Population

Population Trends of population longevity (Expected Number of living years at birth)

Query 1: What is the expected longevity of the Population in Afro Asia confined to those living in Euro America? How has this changed since 1960?

Table # 1 Expected Longevity (Numbers of years expected to live at birth)

Query 2: Can we split Asia into two, North East Asia and South East Asia and known the above ratirs.

Table # 2 Continental Zone Wise Expected Longevity

Query 3: Can we relate expenditure on Health with longevity? Can we split it across three economic zones of the world?

Table # 3 Longevity and money spent on healthcare

Example # 3: Aging population: Those over the age of 65 years

Query 1: How does the percentage of the ageing population compare across three economic zones of the world? Have these ratios changed since 1960?

Table # 4 Percent of Ageing population (65+ years)

Example # 4: Media Age

Background: Higher the Median age greater is the aging of the population)

Query 1: How has the median age across ten continental regions of the world changed since 1960?

Table # 5 Percent of Ageing population (65+ years)

Conclusion: The four examples above are some of the hundreds of queries that the G & G Global Barometer can keep resolving. The examples are meant to train students, teachers and researchers to firstly raise and design their queries and then search for their answers through a highly user-friendly mechanism of the Barometer.

POPULATION AGE CHARACTERISTICS DASHBOARD

Glossary of Age Indicators

Life expectancy at birth, total (years): Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.

Population ages 65 and above (% of total population): Population ages 65 and above as a percentage of the total population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

Median Age: Age that divides the population in two parts of equal size, that is, there are as many persons with ages above the median as there are with ages below the median.

Note: Microstates and islands those account for less than 1 per cent of the world population were excluded from the analysis.

Life Expectancy map (1543-2019)

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Median Age (1950-2100) Map

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Population Growth Rate VS Median Age

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HEALTH EXPENDITURE PER PERSON (2000-2019)

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Further Readings

1 Age Structure

2 Life Expectancy