Economics of healthy and active ageing: WHO Western Pacific Region
Population ageing presents economic, fiscal and societal challenges for countries around the world. Some of the predicted consequences of population ageing are based on an assumption that as people grow older, their health and productivity will inevitably decline. However, older people can be quite diverse in their health and functional abilities and, importantly, there is a role for policy to prevent these adverse outcomes from occurring as populations age.
Building on findings from the Economics of Healthy and Active Ageing series, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, in collaboration with the WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre) and the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, carried out a series of analyses on population ageing for the Western Pacific Region. The Western Pacific Region has one of the largest and fastest growing older populations, hosting over a third of the world’s population aged 65 and above; this number is expected to double by 2050.
Two sets of country reports covering a diverse mix of nations in the Western Pacific Region – Australia, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and Viet Nam – are being released and will empirically explore:
- how promoting health and reducing disability of older working-age people can benefit the economy;
- how changes in the population age structure will affect future health expenditure patterns.
Taken together, the reports indicate that population ageing will not spell catastrophe for countries in the Region and that there are many opportunities if people age in good health.
A comparative regional synthesis report including policy options is also forthcoming and will soon be available here.
