Asia is a continent of demographic extremes. At one end of the spectrum, there are three economies that are among the top in terms of life expectancy worldwide: Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. In these countries, declining fertility rate also means the share of the population that’s of working age is decreasing. On the other side, there are countries like India and Indonesia where the workforce is still expanding, but with declining fertility rates, there is a potential demographic dividend inherent in a favorable ratio of workers to dependents. And there is the Philippines, where the fertility rate is still high and with the workforce supporting a growing population at both ends of the age spectrum, any demographic dividend remains elusive.

East Asia has been on a path of a declining ratio of working age to dependents, while in South Asia, it is still the opposite. For comparison, sub-Saharan Africa is also starting to see a small demographic dividend (see Figure 1). Clearly, policy responses to demographic opportunities and challenges vary according to diverse situations.

Asia needs to tackle the implications for economic growth and well-being of its demographic transition. More open but well-managed immigration on the one side and actions to raise the productivity of the labor force on the other are twin steps with salutary effects across the board.

Read the full article by Vinod Thomas about labor productivity in Asia from Brookings