Ageing populations a 'ticking time bomb' for GDP growth, says EBRD

By Libby George

LONDON (Reuters) -Countries must act now to keep slowing population growth from wreaking havoc on their long-term economic prospects, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said in a semi-annual report on Tuesday.

The report said ageing populations have already begun to hinder economic growth in some nations – and that in emerging Europe, the drop in the share of working-age people is projected to reduce annual per capita GDP growth by an average of almost 0.4 percentage points a year between 2024 and 2050.

“Already today, demography is eroding growth in living standards, and it is going to be a headwind for GDP growth in the future,” EBRD Chief Economist Beata Javorcik told Reuters.

Post-communist nations, she said, “are getting old before getting rich,”