THE growing number and share of older persons in Asia and the Pacific represent success stories of declining fertility and increasing longevity, the result of advances in social and economic development. This demographic transition is taking place against the backdrop of the accelerating Fourth Industrial Revolution. But Covid-19, with its epicenter now in Asia and the Pacific, has exacerbated the suffering of older persons in vulnerable situations and demonstrated the fragility of this progress.
Asia and the Pacific is home to the largest number of older persons in the world — and rapidly ageing. When the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted in 2015, eight percent of the region's total population was 65 years or older. By 2030, when the Agenda comes to an end, it is projected that 12 percent of the total population — 1 in 8 people — will comprise older persons. Fifty-four percent of all older persons in the region will be women, and their share will increase with age.
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