The 2012 Ageing Report: Economic and budgetary projections for the 27 EU Member States (2010-2060)

This report analyses the economic and budgetary impact of an ageing population over the long-term.

In 2010, the ECOFIN Council gave the Economic Policy Committee (EPC) a mandate to update its common exercise of age-related expenditure projections by 2012 on the basis of a new population projection by Eurostat.

The long-term age-related expenditure projections provide an indication of the timing and scale of changes in economic developments that could result from an ageing population in a ‘no-policy change’ scenario. The projections show where (in which countries), when, and to what extent ageing pressures will accelerate as the baby-boom generation retires and average life span in the EU continues to increase. Hence, the updated projections of age related expenditure and the associated sustainability assessments provide important insights on both the economic impact of ageing and the risks to the long-term sustainability of Member States’ public finances reflecting new economic environment, affected by a durable impact of the current crisis, and further reform effort by EU MS.
This report, presented to the ECOFIN council in May 2012, details the expenditure projections covering pensions, health care, long-term care, education and unemployment transfers for all Member States.

The report is structured in two parts. The first describes the assumptions underlying the population projection, the labour force projection and the other macroeconomic assumptions. The second part presents the projection of expenditure on pensions, health care, long-term care, education and unemployment transfers. A statistical annex gives a country-by-country overview of the main assumptions and results.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: The 2012 Ageing Report: Underlying Assumptions and Projection Methodologies http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-2012-ageing-report-underlying-assumptions-and-projection-methodologies/

EUObserver, 15.5.12: Ageing Europeans need to work longer and expect less, report says http://euobserver.com/19/116257

Council of the European Union: Press Release, 15.5.12: Council conclusions on the sustainability of public finances in the light of ageing populations http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ecofin/130261.pdf

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