Chart of the day: From population "pyramid" to "kite"
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 12:28AM 
Economist special report on Japan, mostly about aging.
Japan is merely the first to shuffle into this undiscovered country. In 2050 it's median age will be 56. It's 45 now. So a jump of almost a dozen years in 4 decades. Fast, right? I mean, that's a year increase every three and a half years.
But consider this: China sits now at 35 and will be at 47-48 come 2050, or a jump of 12-13 years over the same time period. That's a 35% increase in the median age, compared to just under 25% for Japan. And remember the size differential: China is ten times the size of Japan.
America now? Thirty-six. Which means China will pass the U.S. in yet another category soon. America in 2050? Just a grey hair under 40. A modest rise of 3.9 years, meaning we're aging at one-third the pace of either country, or a total increase of only 11%.
Think about a country being like a man. I don't know what 56 is like, but I know 48 ain't the same as 39-40. China best enjoy its "century" while it can.
You want to keep it young in Asia, try India and SEA Asia: 24 now and 32 then. Bit of a change there at 33%. But it suggests that outside of China, Japan and Korea, the rest of Asia won't hit middle age until near the end of the century.
Reader Comments (2)
It would seem that the 'filling in the bottom of the demographic chart' in China would come from other Asian countries over Africa for labor in the coming decades. Does Africa get the nod because of its resources?
I think Beijing tries to make SE Asia happy, take advantage of Africa (and please it in this manner) AND try to shunt as many jobs as possible inland. It will be a magnificently tricky balancing act.