Conversely, developing countries suffer from high population growth due to increasing birth rates, which translates into crises at the levels of housing, employment and healthcare. In the following, we highlight the age structure of those countries about which we have sufficient information.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A look at the 30 countries highlighted in Table 1, with a combined population of 4940 million, i.e. 71% of the world’s population, reveals that:

 

-    Nigeria is the country that has the highest proportion of youth (people below 30 years of age), accounting for 69.3% of the country’s total population. Saudi Arabia and Syria rank second and third at 67% and 66.2% respectively. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Japan is the country that has the lowest proportion of youth, accounting for 29.1% of the country’s total population. Sweden and Switzerland rank second and third at 35% and 34% respectively. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Japan is the country with the highest proportion of elderly people (people above 65 years of age), accounting for 22.7% of the country’s total population. Germany and Switzerland rank second and third at 20.2% and 19.2% respectively. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Nigeria is the country with the lowest proportion of elderly people, accounting for 3.1% of the country’s total population. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia rank second and third at 20.2% and 19.2% respectively. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In terms of youth population rates, the countries may be classified into four groups:
    Group 1 where the proportion of youth exceeds 60% of the population. This group includes Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria and Philippines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Group 2 where the proportion of youth accounts for 50% to 60% of the population. This group includes Lebanon, Columbia, Turkey, Mexico, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, India, Algeria and Brazil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Group 3 where the proportion of youth accounts for 40% to 50% of the population. This group includes the United States of America, China and Cyprus. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Group 4 where the proportion of youth accounts for less than 40% of the population. This group includes Switzerland, Sweden, North Korea, Germany, Canada, Russia, Britain, France and Japan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In terms of ageing population rates, the countries may be classified into four groups:
    Group 1 where the proportion of ageing people exceeds 15% of the population. This group includes Japan, Germany, Sweden, France Britain, Switzerland and Canada.

    Group 2 where the proportion of ageing people accounts for 10% to 15% of the population. This group includes the United States of America, Russia, North Korea, Lebanon, Cyprus and Israel. 

    Group 3 where the proportion of ageing people ranges between 5% and 10% of the population. This group includes China, Columbia, Turkey, Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, India, Algeria, Iran. 

    Group 4 where the proportion of people accounts for less than 5% of the population. This group includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria and Philippines.