Demographic trend sees changes
World meet on ageing in Madrid from tomorrow

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Apr. 6:The Second United Nations World Assembly on Ageing will convene in Madrid, Spain, from 8 to 12 April, to respond to the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly ageing population during the twenty-first century.

The global surge in old-age population is called as a "demographic revolution" without precedents in history, and promote the development of a "society for all ages", the theme of the 1999 International Year of Older Persons.

The United Nations said since the adoption of an International Plan of Action at the first World Assembly in Vienna, Austria, in 1982, pervasive demographic changes have been transforming the world.

Ongoing declines in fertility reinforced by increasing longevity continue to produce irreversible changes in the structure of all societies, notably, the historic reversal in the proportions of young and older persons. The profound, pervasive and enduring consequences of population ageing present enormous opportunities, as well as challenges for all societies.

By the middle of the twenty-first century, the old and the young are expected to represent equal 21 per cent shares of the world population. Today, the median age for the world population is 26 years. By 2050, the world median age is expected to have increased by 10 years, to 36 years. Globally, the proportion of persons aged 60 years and older is expected to double between 2000 and 2050, with the majority of older people living in developing countries.

There are other major demographic differences between developed and developing countries. While the overwhelming proportion of older persons in developed countries live in urban areas the majority of older persons in developing countries live in rural areas. Also, in developing countries a large proportion of older persons live in multi-generational households. These differences imply that policy actions and priorities will be different in developing and developed countries.

As the pace of population ageing is much faster in developing countries than in developed countries, developing countries will have less time to adjust to the consequences of population ageing. Moreover, population ageing in the developing countries is taking place at much lower levels of socio-economic development than was the case in the developed countries.

Problems rising from other demographic projections need to be addressed, as well, the United Nations said.

Older women outnumber older men, increasingly so as age increases. The fastest growing group of the older population is the oldest old: those, who are 80 years or more. This group is projected to increase more than five times over the next 50 years.

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