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Our Ageing World

The global population is getting older. Fast. Can we mitigate this huge demographic shift and how do we deal with the impacts?

For years, the major problem of world demography was thought to be the risk of over-population. Now, it's the fact that the global population is ageing fast.

According to the United Nations, the number of people over 65 is set to double between now and 2050, to 1.6 billion people. And, at the same time, the birth rate in most of the world is falling, often sharply.
This demographic shift comes with huge social and economic implications. What are they, and what can we do to cope with them?

Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are:

Stephanie Hegarty, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Global Population Correspondent
Marco Valerio Lo Prete, Economics Editor at Italian State Broadcaster RAI and author of β€œItalians: The Unhappy Few”
Robert Kelly., Professor of Political Science at Pusan National University, South Korea
Camilla Cavendish, Senior Fellow at Harvard University
Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development at the Oxford Martin School

Producers: Simon Watts, Kirsteen Knight and Octavia Woodward
Editor: Richard Vadon
Studio manager: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Thu 29 Dec 2022 20:00

Broadcast

  • Thu 29 Dec 2022 20:00

Podcast