Taiwanese aged 65 or older are expected to comprise nearly half of the population by 2070, causing a host of disadvantages for the nation, a deputy minister said yesterday.
Population graying is a “silent crisis” impacting the world’s high-income nations, including Taiwan, National Development Council Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey (高仙桂) told a news conference at Academia Sinica in Taipei.
Aging has negative implications for a nation’s workforce and taxpayer base, performance in the global competition for talent, regional economic disparity and the fiscal burden imposed by healthcare costs, among others, Kao said.
Photo: CNA
The council’s latest aging projections published in October have spurred the Cabinet to launch a coordinated effort to come up with a policy targeting population graying by February next year, she said.
Citing the study, Kao said 20 percent of Taiwanese would be 65 or older next year, marking the nation’s transformation into a super-aged society.
By 2070, 46.5 percent of the population would be 65 or older, making Taiwan the world’s second-oldest nation, she said.
That is lower than the 47.5 percent projected for South Korea, but higher than the 38.7 percent for Japan, 33.8 percent for Italy, 28.8 percent for Germany and 26.3 percent for the US, she said.
By that year, less than 50 percent of Taiwanese would be of working age to detriment of the economy and the size of the workforce, Kao said, adding that Taiwan’s economic resilience and social stability would be tested.
Developing the artificial intelligence (AI) sector — likely to become a decisive factor for the GDP of aged nations — is deemed to be among the defenses against population graying, she said.
The rise of an AI-driven economy needs to be managed as it would make swathes of workers and businesses obsolete if they do not develop the necessary skills to use the new technology, she added.
Governments are racing to build sovereign data centers and promote AI literacy in their population, as algorithmic capabilities might decide the survival of a nation’s language and culture, Kao said.
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