In a recent Nepali Times piece, reporter Yanki Ukyab highlights how Nepal’s once ageing population, seen as a fiscal burden, is now recognized as an economic opportunity. Ukyab notes that Nepal’s elderly population has grown more than seven-fold over the past 70 years, far outpacing overall population growth, and the country crossed the international threshold of an “ageing society” in 2023. It’s projected to become a fully “aged society” by 2049, an ironic backdrop given that Nepal is currently led by its youngest-ever government.

Ukyab traces the shift to three forces: a sharp fall in fertility (from over six children per woman in 1961 to 1.9 today), rising life expectancy (now 71.3 years), and the migration of more than 3.5 million working-age Nepalis abroad, leaving older relatives behind. As Nepal’s traditional “youth dividend” narrows, Ukyab argues, a “silver dividend” is emerging in its place: the global silver economy, the spending and services generated by older populations, reached $45 trillion in 2020, about a third of world GDP, and Asia-Pacific’s version of it is already growing faster than anywhere else. Nepal’s own social security spending has climbed from Rs96 billion to Rs109 billion in five years, now reaching more than 3.8 million recipients.

Ukyab closes by tying this to Nepal’s broader economic ambitions, including its bid to graduate from least-developed-country status by 2029 and reach middle-income status by 2043. Rather than a setback to those goals, Ukyab suggests, a growing older population with pension income, remittances, and household savings could become one of the engines driving Nepal’s next economic chapter.

Acknowledgement: This summary was generated using AI writing tools as part of my experimental learning process. For more information, check out the original article listed below.

Related Resource Link

• Nepal’s emerging silver economy | Nepali Times