What Do Shifting Demographics Mean For Future Development?

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of shifting demographics on future development, focusing on aging populations and the potential of a youthful demographic in Africa.

The world's population growth tells two stories: in many countries populations are aging, while in others, populations are getting younger. Projections show most countries will likely see shrinking populations within the next 25 years due to historically low fertility rates. But the African continent is bucking this trend. It has the potential to benefit from a demographic dividend: an opportunity for rapid economic growth driven by a large, youthful population. But that is with the right combination of policies and technical support). In this episode of The Development Podcast , we get to grips with what the data tell us, and what this means for development. Join us as we hear from: Craig Hammer , Manager, Office of the Chief Statistician & Development Data Group, World Bank Group, Sarah Hague , Regional Advisor Social Policy, East and Southern Africa, UNICEF, Juyoung Yang , Economist, Department of Macroeconomic and Financial Policies, Korea Development Institute, Katia Osei , Head of Environmental Justice, The Or Foundation, Ghana. Timestamps [00:00] Welcome: From demographic dividends to sliver tsunamis [02:28] Two stories of demographic changes in Ghana and Korea [08:08]…

People in this episode

Guests: Craig Hammer, Sarah Hague, Juyoung Yang, Katia Osei

Topics covered

• demographic changes
• economic growth
• youth population
• data for development
• childhood poverty
• policy support

Keywords

• demographic dividend
• population growth
• fertility rates
• economic policies
• data collection
• development challenges

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: World Bank Group, UNICEF, Korea Development Institute, The Or Foundation

Places: Ghana, Korea, Africa

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