Australia’s Alarming Retiree Burden on its Shrinking Workforce


 
Decades of low fertility are causing the Australian 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 Australia
The working-age population represents those aged 15 to 64. Period: 1950-2050.
Source: World Economics Population Database, 2025





In 1950, there were 8 people of working age supporting each retiree. By 2050, there will be under 2 and a half. 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 times seems a minimum). Alarmingly, only 77.1% of the working-age population is currently employed. Therefore, these figures overstate the number of workers available to support retirees today.

However, Australia has a well-managed sovereign wealth fund, Future Fund, which is available to cover unfunded liabilities generated through this declining worker-to-retiree ratio. Australia is therefore in a much stronger position to deal with its declining ratio than many other developed nations, which also face unfunded liabilities, but lack the rich sovereign wealth funds to cover them.

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

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