Aging Asian population brings challenges but also opportunities

SYDNEY - With an increasingly aging population expected throughout Asia over the next 100 years, a new report released recently suggested that this will bring a wealth of future opportunities as well as some significant challenges.

The Deloitte Voice of Asia report suggested that the shifting demography in the Asian nations within this century toward a significantly larger percentage of aged citizens will see more people aged over 65 in Asia by the year 2042 than in the whole of Europe and North America combined.

Such a significant increase will be "challenging" to some nations, according to author of the report Chris Richardson, director of Deloitte Access Economics who told Xinhua that for China in particular, despite positive government actions, such as the introduction of the two-child policy in 2015, the markets continue to play a role in the shifting demography.