A greying world Today By 2050 Today marks World Health Day, a global campaign led by the World Health Organisation to raise awareness of key health issues. With the numbers of those reaching old age rapidly increasing worldwide, this year’s focus is on helping people add life to their years. The Straits Times takes a look at the ageing world Monaco Macau Japan SINGAPORE Hong Kong Australia Italy Britain United States China Thailand Vietnam Bangladesh India Chad Place 89.68 84.43 83.91 83.75 82.12 81.90 81.86 80.17 78.49 74.84 73.83 72.41 70.06 67.14 48.69 Life expectancy* 1 2 3 4 8 9 10 30 50 95 113 128 147 160 221 Rank NOTE: *Estimated figures for 2012 taken from CIA World Factbook ■ By 2030, one in five will be 65 years and above ■ The population’s median age rose from 34 years in 2000 to 38 years in 2011 ■ Today, 20,000 residents aged 60 and above are living with dementia. This will increase to about 53,000 by 2020 ■ Senior activity centres will serve more seniors, from 18,000 to 48,000 ■ Day-care and rehabilitation services will triple their capacity from 2,100 to 6,200 ■ Number of nursing home beds for seniors without family support will be increased by 70 per cent, from 9,000 to 15,600 ■ More home caregivers will serve 10,000 patients, up from 4,000 Proportion of residents aged 65 and over rose from 7.2 per cent in 2000 to 9.3 per cent in 2011 Living longer Drop in old-age support ratio Old-age support ratio Meeting needs (by 2020) Growing numbers Age composition IN SINGAPORE Proportion of world population by age group (2010) ■ Mental illnesses ■ Sensory impairments ■ Cardiovascular diseases ■ Diabetes ■ Cancer ■ Incontinence ■ Musculoskeletal problems Age composition As lives lengthen, people are vulnerable to certain illnesses Old-age diseases THE WORLD 21.9 20.1 17.4 16.8 70.9 71.9 73.7 73.9 7.2 8.1 9 9.3 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % 2000 2005 2010 2011 41 56 3 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % ■ World ■ Developed nations ■ Less developed ■ Least developed 65 and above 15-64 years 0-14 years 65 and above 15-64 years 0-14 years 0 5 10 15 20 1970 ’80 ’90 2000 ’10 ’11 ’50 17 13.8 11.8 9.9 8.2 7.9 2 UN projection 27 17 30 65 67 64 8 16 6 20 to 24 0 to 9 10 to 19 25 to 29 30 or over No data Percentage aged 60 or over 20 to 24 0 to 9 10 to 19 25 to 29 30 or over No data Percentage aged 60 or over ■ This ratio is a rough indicator of the number of potential providers of support per potential elderly dependant. It is calculated as the number of working-age people from ages 15 to 64 divided by the number of persons aged 65 or older Old-age support ratio ■ By 2050, the ratio for the world is projected to decline by more than half, and Japan will have the lowest ratio of only one working-age adult per elderly person ■ No country will have a ratio above 20 9:1 4:1 ■ The ratio will be below five in more than half of the world’s countries Sources: UN POPULATION AGEING AND DEVELOPMENT 2009, WHO, SINGAPORE DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS, MINISTRY OF HEALTH, CIA WORLD FACTBOOK, POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU 2010 WORLD POPULATION DATA SHEET GRAPHICS: MIKE M DIZON and AMELIA TENG