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Comparative Study
. 2020 Jun/Jul;32(5-6):340-351.
doi: 10.1177/0898264318824180. Epub 2019 Jan 17.

Comparison of Population Aging in Europe and Asia Using a Time-Consistent and Comparative Aging Measure

Arun Balachandran  1   2 , Joop de Beer  1   3 , K S James  4 , Leo van Wissen  1   3 , Fanny Janssen  1   3
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of Population Aging in Europe and Asia Using a Time-Consistent and Comparative Aging Measure

Arun Balachandran et al. J Aging Health. 2020 Jun/Jul.

Abstract

Objective: We compare population aging in Europe and Asia using a measure that is both consistent over time and appropriate for cross-country comparison. Method: Sanderson and Scherbov proposed to estimate the old-age threshold by the age at which the remaining life expectancy (RLE) equals 15 years. We propose an adjustment of this measure, taking into account cross-national differences in the exceptionality of reaching that age. Results: Our old-age threshold was lower than 65 years in 2012 in Central Asia, Southern Asia, Southeastern Asia, and many Eastern European countries. These populations also experienced a higher share of elderly compared with the RLE15 method. Our method revealed more geographical diversity in the shares of elderly. Both methods exhibited similar time trends for the old-age thresholds and the shares of elderly. Discussion: Our prospective and comparative measure reveals higher population aging estimates in most Asian and Eastern European countries and more diversity in aging.

Keywords: Asia; Europe; adult survival; characteristics approach; population aging.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Comparison of the CPOAT with the POAT, for Asian and European regions, 2012. Note. CPOAT = comparative prospective old-age threshold; POAT = prospective old-age threshold.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Share of elderly in 1972 and 2012 according to POAT and CPOAT. Note. POAT = prospective old-age threshold; CPOAT = comparative prospective old-age threshold.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Share of elderly (%) in Europe and Asia using our new method, 2012. Note. CPOAT = comparative prospective old-age threshold.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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