Lithuania's Unsustainable Retiree Burden on its Shrinking Workforce


 
Decades of low fertility are causing Lithuania’s working-age population to fall. Simultaneously, retirees are living longer and forming an ever-larger part of the population. These factors are causing an extraordinary decline in the number of working-age people available to support the expanding number of retirees.

Number of Working-Age People to each Dependent (65+) in Lithuania
The working-age population represents those aged 15 to 64. Period: 1950-2050.
Lithuania



Note: Y axis ratios are expressed as “X : 1,” meaning X working people to every 1 elderly dependent.

In 1950, each Lithuanian retiree was supported 8.5 people of working age. By 2050, this is projected to have fallen to just over 2. Of Lithuania’s total spending on social protection, approximately 47% goes towards the category of ‘old age’, so this fast-expanding, mostly-retired cohort costs the state much more than the equivalent number of workers. Unfunded pension entitlements also stood at 280% of Lithuanian GDP in the most recent Eurostat survey. Adding to this already nightmarish equation is the fact that Lithuania’s labour force participation rate is 63%. Therefore, these figures overstate the number of workers available to support retirees today. Consequently, an unprecedented and unsustainable tax burden is emerging in Lithuania.

More for subscribers:  
See more...The Alarming Cost of Aging Demographics
See more...The Aging Problem Facing All OECD Countries
See more...See more data for Lithuania...
See more...See more Fertility Rate data...
See more...See more 'Number of Workers to Each Elderly Dependent' data...



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