\n<\/p>\n
Beyond its impact on economic growth, an ageing and shrinking population also imposes significant social strains. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The old-age dependency ratio among OECD nations is projected to rise to 52 per cent in 2060 \u2013 meaning there will be 52 elderly for every 100 working adults \u2013 up from about 33 per cent in 2025.<\/p>\n
Naturally, the rising cost of supporting an ageing population with an increasingly narrow base of younger workers to foot the bill is one major issue countries with shrinking populations have to contend with \u2013 something that Singapore is all too familiar with.<\/p>\n
Singapore’s spending on social development has already nearly doubled within a decade<\/a>, from about S$31.3 billion (US$24.4 billion) in financial year 2015 to S$61.3 billion in financial year 2025. Experts previously told CNA TODAY that the increase was largely driven by the need to care for the nation’s ageing population.<\/p>\n Countries with ageing and shrinking populations have seen how this heavy spending can take a toll.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Italy, the European Commission noted that the average deficit in the nation\u2019s pension system \u2013 meaning the difference between contributions and gross expenditure \u2013 is expected to be “more than 4 per cent of GDP” for the period between 2022 and 2050.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Japan, much like in Singapore, its social security expenditures earmarked in its 2026 budget rose to a record of JPY39.1 trillion (S$313.6 billion), or about one-third of all government spending.<\/p>\n Beyond costs, the changing population structure gives rise to other social challenges as well, especially in terms of social support for the elderly.<\/p>\n Where previous generations had bigger households and more family members looking out for one another, many old folks in ageing and declining populations today end up living alone with small social or familial networks.<\/p>\n Loneliness and isolation in itself is already linked to negative impacts on health and even risks of early death, according to the World Health Organisation. The lonely-living situation has even led to many cases of the elderly dying undetected.<\/p>\n In South Korea, there were 3 million single-person households comprising those aged 60 and above in 2024. By 2049, more than half of all single-person households will be aged 65 or older.<\/p>\n In 2024 more than 1,400 funerals in Seoul had to be funded by the public as the bodies were unclaimed \u2013 a big jump from 382 such cases in 2018. Almost eight in 10 of deaths with unclaimed bodies involved the elderly.<\/p>\n\n