Workshop on Demographic Trends and Their Implications for Productivity

Population trends vary widely among countries and regions. In the Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea are among the top in terms of life expectancy, but declining fertility rates mean that the number of working-age people is decreasing. On the other end, in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, the workforce is still young and expanding.

Favorable demographics can produce a virtuous cycle of wealth creation when combined with appropriate health, labor, financial, human capital, and growth-enhancing policies (APO Productivity Databook 2021). The presence of these complementary factors, however, must be cultivated to realize the demographic dividends of economic growth. In contrast, demographic pressures such as aging populations and dwindling labor force participation may negatively affect global economic growth and productivity (OECD, The Future of Productivity, 2015). Overall, analyses of and data on demographic trends provide valuable insights for setting economic policy as they influence economic growth rates, productivity growth, living standards, savings rates, consumption, investments, etc.

This workshop will discuss demographic trends in the region, their implications for productivity and economic growth performance, and policy recommendations to address the challenges and opportunities accompanying those trends

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