No evidence ageing/declining populations compromise socio-economic performance
15 days ago
- #economics
- #socio-economic
- #population
- Concerns about declining or ageing populations often center on fears of weaker economies and lower living standards, but these fears are based on oversimplified or misapplied economic models.
- Long-term prosperity depends more on investments in education, skills, and technology rather than population size.
- A global examination of national data using nine socio-economic indicators found no evidence that slower population growth or ageing populations lead to worse economic or social outcomes.
- Countries with low or negative population growth perform better on average across all indicators.
- Even within-country time series show that older and slower-growing populations fare better on average.
- These findings challenge common assumptions and highlight the need to move beyond fear-based narratives to understand what truly supports thriving societies.