Ageing population
Also called: Population ageing, Demographic ageing · Topic: Measuring Development: Income, HDI and Sustainability · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 8 "Comparative Development Experiences of India and its Neighbours"
Meaning
An ageing population is one where the share of older people keeps rising. It happens when fewer children are born (low fertility) and people live longer. As a result, there are more elderly people for every person of working age. This raises the old-age dependency ratio, which puts pressure on pensions, health care and family care.
Old-age dependency ratio = (population aged 65+ ÷ population aged 15–64) × 100
Example
China's one-child norm, introduced in the late 1970s, cut births so sharply that the country aged rapidly. China later moved to a two-child policy (2016) and a three-child policy (2021). In India, the UNFPA India Ageing Report 2023 projects that the share of people aged 60+ will rise from about 10% in 2022 to about 21% by 2050. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are ageing well ahead of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Don't confuse with
- Population decline: A population can age while it is still growing. Decline means the total number of people is falling.
Related concepts
- Population growth rate
- Population density
- Sex ratio
- Son preference
- Total fertility rate
- Replacement level fertility
- Urbanisation
- Dependency ratio
- Demographic window of opportunity
- Population pyramid