Singapore's Unsustainable Retiree Burden on its Shrinking Workforce


 
Singapore’s fertility rate has dropped to 1%, and decades of low fertility is now causing the 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 Singapore
The working-age population represents those aged 15 to 64. Period: 1950-2050.
Singapore



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

In 1950, each Singaporean retiree was supported by 24 people of working age. By 2050, this is projected to have fallen to 2.4. While Singapore used to have broadly double the amount of workers-to-retirees in comparison to the OECD average, by 2050 it is projected to have roughly the same ratio (the OECD average by that point is estimated to be just above 2). Furthermore, the fast-expanding 65+, mostly-retired cohort cost Governments of rich countries more than the equivalent number of workers, due to unfunded pension, medical and old-age-care costs (3 time seems a minimum). Adding to this already nightmarish equation is the fact that Singapore’s labour force participation rate is estimated to be 68%. Therefore, these figures overstate the number of workers available to support retirees today. Consequently, an unprecedented and unsustainable tax burden is emerging in Singapore.

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 Singapore...
See more...See more Fertility Rate data...
See more...See more 'Number of Workers to Each Elderly Dependent' data...



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