Jan 13, 2004 / 22:00 pm
In reference to the growing elderly population of several European countries, the UN Population Fund is reporting that Spain will experience a “substantial decline” in its working-age population in the near future.
The Executive Director of the UN Population Fund, Thoraya Ahmed Obid, said there are “no well-tested policy recipes to follow” to solve two of the most pressing issues facing the countries of the European Union, especially in Spain, Italy, Germany and Poland: low birth rates and the growing elderly population.
According the latest data, Germany will experience an 11% decline in its working-age population by 2025, and a 28% decline by 2050. In the same period of time, the decline will be much more severe in Italy and Spain, where the working-age population will decline by 15% in 2025 and 42% in 2050.
Brigitta Schmoednerova, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, warned that in addition to the four countries mentioned, all 55 nations represented at the forum in Geneva run the same risk.
She recommended increasing immigration in order to “compensate” for the alarming decline in population.