Population Aging In Developing Countries

Issues related to population aging--Social Security and pension reform, health care financing and provision, and long-term care--have long been the subject of public debate in the industrialized countries of Europe and North America. Economically less developed regions have been slower to adopt aging as a major public policy concern, despite the fact that older populations in many developing countries are growing more rapidly than are those of industrialized nations. Awareness of issues concerning older populations remains low in many nations, even as the absolute numbers of elderly persons double and even triple. This DataWatch considers trends in the basic demography of aging and mortality/health considerations for developing countries.