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Ranked: Global Pandemic Preparedness by Country

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Ranked: Global Pandemic Preparedness by Country

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Ranked: Global Pandemic Preparedness by Country

The world has experienced many pandemics throughout its history, but not every era has had the benefit of modern medicine and hindsight.

However, even with the readily available medical expertise and equipment that exists today, it is still unevenly distributed throughout the globe. Combine this with a highly interconnected global economy, and large populations are still at risk from infection.

Todayโ€™s chart pulls data from the 2019 Global Health Security Index, which ranks 195 countries on health security. It reveals that while there were top performers, healthcare systems around the world on average are fundamentally weakโ€”and not prepared for new disease outbreaks.

Pathways for Commerce and Disease

Modern transportation and trade have linked the farthest stretches of the world to fuel a global economy. Physical distance plays less a limiting role and more an enabling one to form a flat world as Thomas Friedman put it, creating opportunities for commerce anywhere in the world.

A person can sell dishware from his home in Cusco, Peru, online to a customer in Muncie, Indiana, with products manufactured in China, from materials sourced in Africa.

While these connections sound sterile, there are people interacting with one another to procure, manufacture, package, and distribute the goods. The connections are not just through products, but also people and animals across many borders.

Now, add up the interactions within the global food supply chain with plants and livestock and tourism industries and place them under the pressures of climate change, urbanization, international mass displacement, and migrationโ€”and the volume and variety of opportunities for disease transmission and mutation becomes infinite.

The same pathways of global commerce become the transmission vectors for disease. A cough in Dubai can become a fever in London with one flight and one day.

You Cannot Manage What You Do Not Measure

Despite this, we still live with national healthcare systems that look inward towards national populations, with less of a focus on integrating what is happening with the outside world.

The Global Health Security (GHS) Index is the first comprehensive effort to assess and benchmark health security and related capabilities by nation, and it tracks six key factors to come up with an overall score for each of the 195 countries in the ranking:

  1. Prevention
    Prevention of the emergence or release of pathogens
  2. Detection and Reporting
    Early detection and reporting for epidemics of potential international concern
  3. Rapid Response
    Capability of rapidly responding to and mitigating the spread of an epidemic
  4. Health System
    Sufficient and robust and health system to treat the sick and protect health workers
  5. Compliance with Global Norms
    Compliance with international norms by improving national capacity, financing plans to address gaps
  6. Risk Environment
    Risk environment and country vulnerability to biological threats

Note: The GHS Index is a project of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security (JHU), and was developed with The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Country Overall Rankings

Overall, the rankings uncover a distressing insight. Global preparedness for both epidemics and pandemics is weak, with the average score in the index sitting at 40.2 out of 100.

The countries with the highest scores have effective governance and politics systems in place, while those with the lowest scores fall down for their inadequate healthcare systemsโ€”even among high-income countries.

Here are the 50 highest-ranking countries in the index:

RankCountryGHS Index Score
#1๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States83.5
#2๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง United Kingdom77.9
#3๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands75.6
#4๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia75.5
#5๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada75.3
#6๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ Thailand73.2
#7๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden72.1
#8๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Denmark70.4
#9๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea70.2
#10๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Finland68.7
#11France68.2
#12Slovenia67.2
#13Switzerland67
#14Germany66
#15Spain65.9
#16Norway64.6
#17Latvia62.9
#18Malaysia62.2
#19Belgium61
#20Portugal60.3
#21Japan59.8
#22Brazil59.7
#23Ireland59
#24Singapore58.7
#25Argentina58.6
#26Austria58.5
#27Chile58.3
#28Mexico57.6
#29Estonia57
#30Indonesia56.6
#31Italy56.2
#32Poland55.4
#33Lithuania55
#34South Africa54.8
#35Hungary54
#35New Zealand54
#37Greece53.8
#38Croatia53.3
#39Albania52.9
#40Turkey52.4
#41Serbia52.3
#42Czech Republic52
#42Georgia52
#44Armenia50.2
#45Ecuador50.1
#46Mongolia49.5
#47Kyrgyz Republic49.3
#47Saudi Arabia49.3
#49Peru49.2
#50Vietnam49.1

You can view the complete rankings of all 195 countries on the GHS Index website.

Interestingly, 81% of countries score in the bottom tier for indicators related to biosecurityโ€”and worse, 85% of countries show no evidence of having completed a biological threat-focused simulation exercise in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) in the past year.

Confirmed COVID-19 Cases vs. Global Health Security Score

Many healthcare systems have had their security tested with the outbreak of COVID-19.

global health secutiry score vs covid19 cases

Although it is still extremely early, there appears to be a relationship between a nation’s health security and its ability to cope with pandemics.

Takeaways: A World Unprepared

While there may be top performers relative to other countries, the overall picture paints a grim picture that foreshadowed the current crisis we are living through.

โ€œIt is likely that the world will continue to face outbreaks that most countries are ill positioned to combat. In addition to climate change and urbanization, international mass displacement and migrationโ€”now happening in nearly every corner of the worldโ€”create ideal conditions for the emergence and spread of pathogens.โ€ – The Global Health Security Index, 2019

The report outlined eight critical insights about global health security in 2019 that reveal some of the problems countries are now facing.

  1. National health security is fundamentally weak globally. No country is fully prepared for epidemics or pandemics, and every country has important gaps to address.
  2. Countries are not prepared for a globally catastrophic biological event.
  3. There is little evidence that most countries have tested important health security capacities or shown that they would be functional in a crisis.
  4. Most countries have not allocated funding from national budgets to fill identified preparedness gaps.
  5. More than half of countries face major political and security risks that could undermine national capability to combat biological threats.
  6. Most countries lack basic health systems capacities critical for epidemic and pandemic response.
  7. Coordination and training are inadequate among veterinary, wildlife, and public health professionals and policymakers.
  8. Improving country compliance with international health and security norms is essential.

A Stark Reality

The intention of the Global Health Security Index is to encourage improvements in the planning and response to one of the worldโ€™s most omnipresent risksโ€“infectious disease outbreaks. When this report was released in 2019, it revealed that even the highest ranking nations still had gaps to fill in preparing for a pandemic.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20. The COVID-19 outbreak has served as a wake-up call to health organizations and governments around the world. Once all of the curves have been flattened, the next version of this report will undoubtedly be viewed with renewed interest.

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Charted: The Worldโ€™s Aging Population from 1950 to 2100

This graphic visualizes the worldโ€™s aging population, showing data for every country and territory around the world.

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Charted: The Worldโ€™s Aging Population from 1950 to 2100

As demographics continue to shift in the 21st century, the worldโ€™s aging population will continue to be a focal point for many global decision makers.

Most countries around the world have experienced population explosions, or are about to. Combine this with declining birth rates and falling mortality rates, and it’s clear that the global senior population will continue to reach new heights.

These graphics by Pablo Alvarez use data from the 2022 UN World Population Prospects to visualize this increasing aging population across countries.

The Worldโ€™s Aging Population from 1950 to 2100

In 2022, there were 771 million people aged 65+ years globally, accounting for almost 10% of the world’s population.

This segment has been growing at an increasing rate, and it’s expected to hit 16% in 2050, and eventually 24% by 2100. Here’s what that’s projected to look like, for every country and territory.

Country by Population Aged +65 Years195020222100
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ซ Afghanistan2.85%2.39%16.03%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Albania6.04%16.66%49.08%
๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algeria3.49%6.39%28.83%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ธ American Samoa2.38%7.27%45.41%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Andorra10.02%14.98%37.04%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ด Angola2.93%2.6%12.07%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Anguilla3.69%10.71%37.49%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Antigua and Barbuda4.14%10.63%35.4%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Argentina4.13%11.92%31.79%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Armenia8.17%13.15%36.13%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ผ Aruba1.77%16.15%36.51%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia8.17%16.9%31.38%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Austria10.42%19.81%33.93%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Azerbaijan6.89%7.11%30.5%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ธ Bahamas4.76%8.89%29.58%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ญ Bahrain2.88%3.76%21.89%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ Bangladesh3.9%6.04%32.56%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ง Barbados5.24%16.28%33.19%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡พ Belarus8.24%17.18%30.45%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgium11.03%19.73%32.83%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฟ Belize3.57%5.09%29.21%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฏ Benin7.85%3.06%11.03%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฒ Bermuda5.71%20.41%37.73%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡น Bhutan2.53%6.25%33.35%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ด Bolivia6.11%4.85%21.75%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ถ Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba14.22%13.84%28.94%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina3.95%18.4%36.4%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ผ Botswana4.32%3.65%17.96%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil2.39%9.88%33.52%
๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ฌ British Virgin Islands8.63%9.95%32.47%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ณ Brunei4.85%6.17%30.93%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฌ Bulgaria6.66%22.38%37.13%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ซ Burkina Faso2.01%2.53%13.07%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฎ Burundi3.22%2.48%13.23%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ญ Cambodia2.67%5.81%26.43%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Cameroon3.47%2.67%11.89%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada7.7%19.03%31.55%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ป Cape Verde3.67%5.55%32.63%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡พ Cayman Islands6.05%8.17%28.75%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ซ Central African Republic5.%2.51%11.43%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฉ Chad4.33%2.01%9.64%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Chile3.3%13.03%36.61%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China5.04%13.72%40.93%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Colombia3.22%9.%34.49%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Comoros3.8%4.28%17.81%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Congo3.36%2.72%11.99%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Cook Islands2.94%11.73%29.75%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ท Costa Rica2.97%10.83%36.99%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Cote d'Ivoire2.21%2.4%10.86%
๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Croatia7.82%22.36%37.03%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡บ Cuba4.36%15.81%36.31%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ผ Curacao5.82%14.95%30.46%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡พ Cyprus5.95%14.83%33.36%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czechia8.29%20.64%26.94%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Democratic Republic of Congo3.77%2.92%10.62%
๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Denmark9.04%20.49%30.45%
๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฏ Djibouti1.99%4.54%19.68%
๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Dominica7.67%9.53%34.28%
๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ด Dominican Republic2.72%7.4%30.47%
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ Ecuador5.2%7.83%31.97%
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Egypt2.95%4.83%21.77%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ป El Salvador3.93%8.22%36.02%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ถ Equatorial Guinea5.53%3.12%15.13%
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ท Eritrea3.2%4.01%19.86%
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ช Estonia10.56%20.58%34.15%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Eswatini2.68%4.%16.26%
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น Ethiopia3.01%3.14%18.6%
๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ด Faeroe Islands7.59%17.92%26.91%
๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Falkland Islands8.27%11.08%35.86%
๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฏ Fiji5.99%5.9%20.6%
๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Finland6.63%23.27%34.04%
๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France11.39%21.66%34.23%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ซ French Guiana7.96%5.98%21.13%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ซ French Polynesia3.%10.07%37.85%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Gabon7.21%3.89%16.25%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Gambia2.5%2.43%16.06%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ช Georgia9.35%14.61%31.19%
๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany9.46%22.41%33.72%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghana4.62%3.55%15.91%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Gibraltar6.94%20.84%37.63%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ท Greece6.8%22.82%37.52%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Greenland3.06%10.02%29.16%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Grenada5.12%10.07%30.54%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ต Guadeloupe5.51%20.04%34.45%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡บ Guam1.11%11.84%31.19%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡น Guatemala2.31%4.91%28.05%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Guernsey11.96%16.64%35.4%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ณ Guinea5.39%3.32%14.%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ผ Guinea-Bissau3.45%2.82%14.34%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡พ Guyana3.89%6.28%28.94%
๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น Haiti3.64%4.54%19.07%
๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ณ Honduras3.96%4.27%26.5%
๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Hong Kong2.48%20.47%41.64%
๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡บ Hungary7.81%20.01%31.85%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ธ Iceland7.52%15.33%34.25%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India3.1%6.9%29.81%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Indonesia1.74%6.86%25.28%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran5.22%7.62%33.72%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraq2.79%3.41%18.44%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Ireland10.99%15.14%32.48%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Isle of Man13.9%22.29%31.8%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Israel4.%12.04%25.97%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Italy8.09%24.05%38.19%
๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Jamaica3.83%7.45%44.05%
๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan4.89%29.92%38.7%
๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ช Jersey12.34%16.22%30.52%
๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด Jordan5.03%3.84%27.3%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Kazakhstan6.47%8.04%19.58%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ช Kenya5.28%2.87%16.98%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Kiribati7.13%3.81%17.33%
๐Ÿ‡ฝ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Kosovo5.33%10.19%43.35%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ผ Kuwait2.88%4.93%31.56%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Kyrgyzstan7.91%4.54%21.08%
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Laos2.13%4.45%25.24%
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ป Latvia10.12%21.86%32.86%
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ง Lebanon7.24%9.89%32.11%
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ธ Lesotho6.34%4.2%13.44%
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ท Liberia2.97%3.31%13.88%
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡พ Libya5.21%4.86%27.77%
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Liechtenstein7.89%19.37%34.79%
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡น Lithuania8.65%20.8%32.79%
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡บ Luxembourg9.71%15.03%31.55%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ด Macao3.11%13.%32.39%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Madagascar3.25%3.35%16.21%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ผ Malawi3.06%2.61%15.61%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ Malaysia4.91%7.5%30.78%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ป Maldives3.14%4.78%35.61%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Mali2.78%2.38%11.%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡น Malta7.42%19.13%38.26%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ญ Marshall Islands5.68%4.56%17.8%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ถ Martinique5.85%22.77%37.31%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ท Mauritania1.44%3.22%15.03%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡บ Mauritius3.18%12.79%33.76%
๐Ÿ‡พ๐Ÿ‡น Mayotte6.61%2.88%18.15%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico2.99%8.32%34.88%
๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Micronesia (country)4.11%6.16%27.59%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Moldova7.56%12.98%26.36%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡จ Monaco15.64%35.92%30.16%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ณ Mongolia3.87%4.61%26.18%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ช Montenegro7.85%16.55%34.16%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ธ Montserrat7.92%17.7%33.05%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Morocco2.86%7.72%29.97%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Mozambique3.13%2.57%13.43%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Myanmar3.21%6.82%23.69%
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Namibia4.1%3.97%15.38%
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ท Nauru8.98%2.5%15.87%
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต Nepal2.74%6.09%29.51%
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands7.76%20.31%32.89%
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡จ New Caledonia5.%11.02%31.61%
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ New Zealand9.09%16.31%33.2%
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Nicaragua2.71%5.29%28.92%
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ช Niger.92%2.4%9.76%
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nigeria3.%2.97%12.31%
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡บ Niue4.79%15.16%22.55%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ต North Korea2.72%11.71%30.49%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฐ North Macedonia5.87%14.91%36.56%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ต Northern Mariana Islands2.95%10.81%32.09%
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway9.52%18.44%31.65%
๐Ÿ‡ด๐Ÿ‡ฒ Oman3.05%2.76%23.96%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ Pakistan5.48%4.27%17.23%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ผ Palau8.59%9.93%21.48%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ธ Palestine4.77%3.53%23.44%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฆ Panama3.57%8.77%30.03%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฌ Papua New Guinea1.09%3.19%16.81%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ Paraguay3.73%6.26%26.51%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Peru3.43%8.41%30.33%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ Philippines3.56%5.44%23.38%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ Poland5.22%18.55%35.69%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Portugal7.%22.9%36.28%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ท Puerto Rico3.63%22.93%48.9%
๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Qatar3.5%1.52%15.01%
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ช Reunion3.81%13.28%32.4%
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด Romania7.16%18.64%32.22%
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia4.8%15.8%27.86%
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ Rwanda2.76%3.2%17.36%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฑ Saint Barthlemy7.3%10.61%43.89%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ญ Saint Helena8.63%28.66%32.61%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ณ Saint Kitts and Nevis5.36%10.13%29.79%
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡จ Saint Lucia3.59%9.23%33.39%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ซ Saint Martin (French part)4.47%11.14%30.08%
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฒ Saint Pierre and Miquelon6.34%17.32%33.4%
๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡จ Saint Vincent and the Grenadines7.71%10.86%32.34%
๐Ÿ‡ผ๐Ÿ‡ธ Samoa2.52%5.22%18.75%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฒ San Marino10.15%20.47%35.73%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡น Sao Tome and Principe3.92%3.76%15.6%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi Arabia3.32%2.81%30.28%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senegal3.42%3.14%16.54%
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Serbia6.15%20.56%37.55%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡จ Seychelles10.68%8.16%28.84%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Sierra Leone3.02%3.14%15.52%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Singapore2.29%15.12%36.51%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Sint Maarten (Dutch part)12.03%10.57%34.51%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Slovakia6.63%16.98%33.4%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Slovenia7.52%20.96%33.59%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ง Solomon Islands4.03%3.47%15.29%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ด Somalia2.6%2.57%10.75%
๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa4.06%5.89%20.55%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea2.74%17.49%44.44%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ธ South Sudan3.48%2.89%13.11%
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spain7.23%20.27%38.72%
๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Sri Lanka8.76%11.54%35.73%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Sudan3.03%3.5%13.28%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ท Suriname4.09%7.39%25.8%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden10.19%20.25%31.83%
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Switzerland9.49%19.31%32.61%
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡พ Syria7.66%4.68%24.62%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ผ Taiwan2.11%16.71%37.32%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฏ Tajikistan4.34%3.47%19.43%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ Tanzania2.2%3.1%14.97%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ Thailand3.21%15.21%39.17%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฑ Timor3.14%5.21%25.42%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฌ Togo4.29%3.13%11.77%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฐ Tokelau4.7%8.66%25.03%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ด Tonga4.6%6.22%21.65%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡น Trinidad and Tobago3.93%11.52%32.67%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Tunisia4.4%9.02%31.24%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Turkey3.77%8.64%33.9%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฒ Turkmenistan5.84%5.15%21.55%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡จ Turks and Caicos Islands5.79%10.34%28.25%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ป Tuvalu4.98%6.48%16.15%
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Uganda2.87%1.69%14.33%
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Ukraine7.54%18.81%33.2%
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช United Arab Emirates3.35%1.83%15.77%
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง United Kingdom10.84%19.17%32.56%
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States8.18%17.13%30.47%
๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ฎ United States Virgin Islands7.54%20.42%39.11%
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ Uruguay8.23%15.58%35.98%
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Uzbekistan5.87%5.14%22.24%
๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡บ Vanuatu5.65%3.74%16.29%
๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช Venezuela2.29%8.61%27.71%
๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Vietnam4.13%9.12%30.02%
๐Ÿ‡ผ๐Ÿ‡ซ Wallis and Futuna1.76%13.47%32.98%
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ญ Western Sahara2.82%5.84%23.73%
๐Ÿ‡พ๐Ÿ‡ช Yemen3.98%2.66%18.25%
๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Zambia2.76%1.75%12.66%
๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ Zimbabwe3.18%3.32%14.22%
๐ŸŒ World5.13%9.82%24.03%

Some of the places with high elderly shares today include high-income countries like Japan (30%), Italy (24%), and Finland (23%).

The lowest shares are concentrated in the Middle East and Africa. Many countries have just 2% of their population aged 65 years and older, such as Qatar, Uganda, and Afghanistan.

But over time, almost all countries are expected to see their older population segments grow. In just three decades, it is estimated that one-in-four European, North American, and Asian residents will be over 65 years of age.

By 2100, a variety of Asian countries and island nations facing low population growth are expected to see more than one-third of their populations aged 65 years or older, including South Korea and Jamaica at 44%. However, it’s actually Albania that’s the biggest outlier overall, with a projected 49% of its population to be aged 65 and older by 2100.

Passing the Generational Torch

The challenge of an aging population is set to impact all sectors of society, including labor and financial markets, demand for housing and transportation, and especially family structures and intergenerational ties.

One way to help grasp the nature of transition is to note the changing ratio between seniors and young children in the world population, as seen in the below crossover diagram:

Elderly population surpass that of children aged 5 and below

Dropping fertility rates, in addition to improved child and infant mortality rates, are known to have played a major role in the plateauing population of children.

However, not all countries have witnessed this crossover yet, as it usually coincides with higher levels of economic development.

As countries such as India, Brazil, and South Africa reach higher levels of per capita income, they will be likely to follow down the paths of more advanced economies, eventually experiencing similar demographic fates and challenges.

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