Australia’s population to get older, grow more slowly by 2060s

Canberra – Australia is facing a major demographic shift in the coming four decades, with the number of elderly citizens predicted to swell, while overall population growth slows.

Australia’s population is expected to grow to more than 40 million people by the early 2060s, according to data from the government’s latest intergenerational report released on Sunday.

Population growth is tipped to slow to 1.1 per cent over the next 40 years, down from 1.4 per cent over the past 40 years, the data showed.

The full report, designed to guide lawmakers’ long-term policy, will be released on Thursday.

The country’s residents are also expected to live longer, with the number of people over the age of 85 predicted to triple over the coming decades, while the over-65 population is set to double.

As a result, the country’s aged-care economy could almost double to as much as 15 per cent of gross domestic product by the 2060s.

Separate intergenerational report data released earlier on Sunday showed that Australia’s ageing population and the cost of servicing debt were expected to cause government spending to rise by about A$140 billion (S$121.7 billion) over the next 40 years.

With Australia’s demographic outlook worsening, the report said three of the five fastest-growing spending pressures in the decades ahead were expected to be health, aged care and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The report showed that growth in the care economy was set to be one of the most prominent shifts in the coming decades, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in an e-mailed statement.

“What the intergenerational report reveals is after (2023), the pressure on the budget intensifies,” he said. BLOOMBERG