Singapore shrinking
With alarmingly fewer babies and more elderly, UN paints a stark
picture for Singapore
Wednesday March 21, 2007
Jasmine Yin
[email protected]
This is one ranking where Singapore would not want to be so high up
the list.
Unfortunately, while it is behind South Korea, it is way ahead of
other Asian contenders such as Malaysia and Hong Kong.
A United Nations report looking ahead to the years between 2045 and
2050 lists countries whose natural populations will grow most
slowly. In fact, they will actually shrink.
So acute is Singapore's shortage of babies that there are only four
countries in the world whose natural populations will fall at a
faster rate. They are Ukraine, Bulgaria, Belarus and South
Korea.
Even Japan, which has long struggled with a lack of babies, will
shrink more slowly than Singapore.
This is "not a good thing", noted Environment and Water Resources
Senior Parliamentary Secretary Dr Amy Khor, who sat on the
committee behind the Baby Bonus package of pro-family incentives.
She said that this finding "serves to confirm what we already know
and have been trying to tackle".
Aside from the Baby Bonus introduced in 2001 and enhanced in 2004
the Government has been trying to attract more immigrants, added
Dr Khor, who is also the Southwest District mayor.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng recently said Singapore has to
attract immigrants to keep the economy humming.
Mr Wong, who chairs the National Population Committee, estimated
that 10,000 to 12,000 new citizens a year is a "good number" to
attract.
According to the report, by 2050, Singaporeans are projected to
live up to the age of 84.6 years 4.6 years more than the average
life expectancy now. Japan, Hong Kong and Macau are the only Asian
countries where longevity will supersede Singapore's by 2050.
Macau, Japan, South Korea and Singapore will also have the top four
oldest populations in the world by 2050, with the median age
ranging from 53.7 to 55.5. The median age is expected to rise by at
least 12 years between 2005 and 2050 in 37 developing countries in
Asia.
Ageing is most advanced in Europe, the report noted, and by 2050,
the continent will have twice as many older people those aged 60
and above as children, or those below 15 years old. This
combination will pose "major challenges for the social and economic
adaptation of societies".
Population ageing is "accelerating" in Asia, Latin America and the
Caribbean.
In Asia, by 2040, the older people will outnumber the children.
And, globally, by 2045, there is likely to be more older people
than children "for the first time in history".
This is the "consequence of the long-term reductions in fertility
and mortality" in the world, the report said.
Africa is the only region with a relatively young population. Its
elderly people will be "far below" that of children in 2050, it
added.
http://www.todayonline.com/pda/178572ag.htm
