Introducing the Journal of Population Ageing

Abstract

The second half of the 20th century saw the more developed countries of the world experience population ageing to a degree hitherto unseen in demographic history. The first half of the 21 st Century is predicted to see the same transition within the less developed and transitional countries. Globally, by 2050 there will be some 2 billion adults aged over 60, and the total number of older people will outnumber the young. This is historically unprecedented. It makes the 20 th century the last century of youth, the 21 st century the first of population maturity.Most western style countries have aged continuously over the past century, the measure of ageing being an increase in the percentage of those over 60 years, and a decrease in those under 15 years. Europe reached maturity at the turn of the millennium, with more older people than younger. By 2030 half the population of Western Europe will be over 50, 25% over 65, and 15% over 75. By 2030 one quarter of the population of the developed world will be over 65, and by the middle of the century this will have risen to one third. Yet while most interest has focused on the ageing of Europe, it is the Asian/Pacific region that is ageing most rapidly. By 2030 one quarter of the population of Asia will be over 60, and by 2040 Asia will be demographically mature, with more older than younger people. If we move from structural ageing to consider absolute numbers of older people, the dominance of the less developed regions, and in particular Asia, becomes even more apparent. Already two thirds of the world's older population live in less developed regions with the absolute numbers of older people in these regions doubling to reach some 900 million within 25 years. By 2050 two-thirds of the world's elders will live in Asia alone.The numbers of those aged 80 and above will show an even greater increase, rising from 69 million to near 400 million by 2050. Thus by the middle of the 21st Century there will be almost as many over 80s as there were over 65s at the beginning. This is the fastest growing age group in the world with an annual growth rate of 3.8%. Low fertility around the time of the First World War and declining

Problematic Demography: Representations of Population Ageing in the Swedish Daily Press

“…1 When used within a scientific, primarily demographic discourse, the concept of population ageing is an indicator of a rise in the median age of the population that is most often associated with two parallel processes: declining fertility and increasing longevity (cf. Harper and Leeson 2008. See also Bengtsson 2010).…”

The Impact of Ageing and the Speed of Ageing on the Economic Growth of Least Developed, Emerging and Developed Countries, 1990–2013

“…Although population ageing was initially visible only in developed countries (Harper and Leeson, 2009;Lee et al, 2011), recent demographic studies have uncovered that such a trend is not limited to developed countries alone (Bloom et al, 2010). There are a good number of studies (e.g.…”

The effect of smoking on health-related quality of life in lung cancer patients: a systematic review

“…The prevalence of smoking has declined considerably in many countries (from 31% in 1998 to 21% in 2008 (UK)2 and 24% in 19983 to 21% in 2009 (USA)4) but delays between the onset of smoking and diagnosis of lung cancer, and increasing ageing among populations5 mean that lung cancer rates are expected to increase 6…”