The median age of all ASEAN +6¹ countries labour force is rising, with the pace expected to accelerate significantly over the next 10 years in countries such as Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia and Viet Nam. Ageing societies lead to increases in old-age dependency ratios, measured as the size of the older population (65+) as a share of the prime working-age population (15-64). Japan has the highest ratio, with almost half of the working population being elderly.



With ageing populations comes increased pressure on national pension systems. The consequences of a rapidly ageing society differ between high-income countries with sufficient capacity for universal pension and/or health care and middle-income countries with limited fiscal resources. The range of persons above the statutory pensionable age receiving an old-age pension among ASEAN +6 runs from above 90 per cent in Japan and New Zealand to less than 20 per cent in Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia.²  Despite some progress, pensions systems in the region are not yet up for the challenge of meeting a rising elderly population.³