CANBERRA: An aging population and climate change will mould the Australian economy over the next 40 years, a landmark government report has found.
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Thursday released the latest Intergenerational Report (IGR), the first since 2021 and sixth since 2002, laying out Australia’s economic challenges and opportunities for the next 40 years.
The report forecast that Australia’s long-term average economic growth will fall from 3.1 per cent per annum over the last 40 years to 2.2 per cent over the next 40 years while average annual population growth will fall from 1.4 per cent to 1.1 per cent, said Xinhua.
The report projected that by 2063 the Australian population will surpass 40 million people but participation in the workforce will fall from 66.6 per cent to 63.8 per cent, with the number of people aged 85 and over set to more than triple.
In order to meet rising demand, the report said the care and support workforce would have to double in size by 2050.
Launching the report in a speech to the National Press Club (NPC), Chalmers said that longer life expectancies would transform Australia’s economy.
“Moving from a younger to an older population is something we’ve known about for some time now and it’s true that this will put a strain on our budget,” he said. – BERNAMA-XINHUA
