2020 Older persons in ASEAN in numbers

Lao People’s
ASEAN Brunei Democratic
Darussalam Cambodia Indonesia Republic Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Viet Nam

Indicator Year

total 2020 667 301 437 16 719 273 254 7 276 32 366 54 410 109 581 5 850 69 800 97 339
Population at mid-year (thousands)1
total 2050 791 983 492 21 861 330 905 9 480 40 550 62 253 144 488 6 408 65 940 109 605

total 74 374 42 1 265 27 524 494 3 549 5 443 9 433 1 225 13 412 11 988

Population aged 60 years or over (thousands)1 male 2020 33 499 21 495 12 974 230 1 749 2 254 4 140 615 5 981 5 041

female 40 874 21 770 14 550 264 1 800 3 188 5 293 610 7 431 6 947

total 176 007 141 3 584 69 792 1 487 9 565 11 568 23 863 2 582 23 582 29 841

Population aged 60 years or over (thousands)1 male 2050 79 073 71 1 564 31 903 684 4 708 4 884 10 273 1 284 10 390 13 312

female 96 934 70 2 020 37 889 803 4 858 6 684 13 589 1 298 13 193 16 530

total 47 515 24 811 17 129 310 2 325 3 393 6 040 781 9 044 7 657

Population aged 65 years or over (thousands)1 male 2020 20 660 12 318 7 824 138 1 131 1 364 2 525 376 3 942 3 029

female 26 855 12 493 9 305 172 1 194 2 029 3 515 405 5 102 4 628
Population and population age structure

total 132 373 107 2 553 52 949 987 6 893 8 204 17 045 2 132 19 546 22 412

Population aged 65 years or over (thousands)1 male 2050 58 060 53 1 091 23 520 440 3 371 3 347 7 018 1 047 8 457 9 715

female 74 313 54 1 462 28 974 547 3 522 4 858 10 026 1 085 11 088 12 697

total 8 184 3 96 2 419 40 372 416 914 136 1 921 1 866

Population aged 80 years or over (thousands)1 male 2020 2 984 2 35 900 16 183 144 297 52 753 602

female 5 199 2 60 1 519 24 190 272 617 83 1 168 1 265

total 32 428 25 428 10 832 143 1 671 1 356 3 783 829 7 068 6 293

Population aged 80 years or over (thousands)1 male 2050 12 512 12 159 4 235 55 798 454 1 213 389 2 808 2 389

female 19 916 13 269 6 597 88 873 902 2 570 440 4 260 3 904

2020 30.3 32.3 25.6 29.7 24.4 30.3 29.0 25.7 42.2 40.1 32.5
Median age of the total population (years)1
2050 38.4 43.9 34.0 37.4 34.5 40.5 37.3 34.7 53.4 49.7 41.2
2020 11.2 9.5 7.6 10.1 6.8 11.0 10.0 8.6 20.9 19.2 12.3
Percentage of the population aged 60 years or over1
2050 22.2 28.7 16.4 21.1 15.7 23.6 18.6 16.5 40.3 35.8 27.2
2020 7.1 5.6 4.9 6.3 4.3 7.2 6.2 5.5 13.4 13.0 7.9
Percentage of the population aged 65 years or over1
2050 16.7 21.7 11.7 15.9 10.4 17.0 13.2 11.8 33.3 29.6 20.4

Percentage of the population aged 80 years or 2020 11.0 8.4 7.6 8.8 8.1 10.5 7.6 9.7 11.1 14.3 15.6
over out of the population aged 60 years or over1 2050 18.4 17.9 12.0 15.5 9.6 17.5 11.7 15.9 32.1 30.0 21.1
Percentage of women out the population aged 60 years or over1 2020 55.0 50.2 60.9 52.9 53.5 50.7 58.6 56.1 49.8 55.4 57.9
Percentage of women out the population aged 60 years or over1 2050 55.1 49.6 56.4 54.3 54.0 50.8 57.8 56.9 50.3 55.9 55.4
Percentage of women out the population aged 80 years or over1 2020 63.5 53.0 63.1 62.8 60.3 50.9 65.3 67.5 61.4 60.8 67.8
Percentage of women out the population aged 80 years or over1 2050 61.4 51.9 62.9 60.9 61.5 52.3 66.5 67.9 53.1 60.3 62.0
2020 9.5 12.9 13.2 10.8 15.0 9.7 10.9 11.7 5.6 5.4 8.8
Potential old-age support ratio (ratio of population 15-64 per population aged 65 or over)1
2050 3.9 2.9 5.7 4.1 6.6 3.9 5.1 5.7 1.7 2.0 3.1
total 72.9 76.0 70.1 71.9 68.2 76.3 67.4 71.4 83.8 77.3 75.5
Life expectancy and age concepts

Life expectancy at birth (years)1 male 2020 70.0 74.9 67.7 69.8 66.4 74.4 64.3 67.4 81.7 73.7 71.4
female 76.0 77.3 72.2 74.2 70.1 78.5 70.3 75.6 85.9 81.1 79.6
total .. 67.9 60.8 61.7 57.9 66.6 58.4 61.7 76.2 66.8 67.5
Healthy life expectancy at birth (years)2 male 2016 .. 67.0 59.4 60.4 56.9 65.3 56.9 59.4 74.7 64.0 64.2
female .. 68.8 62.1 63.0 58.8 68.1 59.9 64.2 77.6 69.8 70.7
total 16.5 17.3 14.3 15.1 13.8 17.2 13.6 16.3 21.6 19.4 18.4
Life expectancy at age 65 (years)1 male 2020-2025 14.9 17.0 13.5 13.8 13.0 16.7 12.4 13.8 20.0 17.8 16.3
female 17.9 17.6 14.9 16.3 14.5 17.8 14.5 18.5 23.1 20.7 20.1
total 67.3 68.2 64.0 65.1 63.2 68.2 63.0 67.0 73.4 71.0 70.1
Prospective old-age threshold (age when remaining life expactancy is 15 years)1 male 2020-2025 64.9 67.9 62.7 63.2 61.9 67.6 61.0 63.0 71.5 69.1 67.2
female 69.0 68.5 64.8 66.8 64.3 68.6 64.3 69.7 74.7 72.5 72.0

Population growth rate (percentage change per annum)1 2020 1.0 0.9 1.4 1.0 1.4 1.3 0.7 1.3 0.8 0.2 0.9
Population
change

Growth rate of the population aged 60 years or over (percentage change per annum) 1 2020 4.4 6.8 4.6 4.6 3.9 4.3 3.6 4.5 5.5 4.1 4.6

Total fertility rate (number of births per woman aged 15-49)1 2020 2.1 1.8 2.5 2.3 2.6 2.0 2.1 2.5 1.2 1.5 2.0

total 32.2 7.8 46.5 42.0 29.0 25.2 14.0 31.7 28.8 25.4 28.2
Employment and
social protection

Labour force participation rate of people aged 65 years or over (percentage)3 male 2020 43.7 10.0 62.1 56.5 37.3 39.0 23.3 41.2 38.6 34.8 34.1

female 23.5 5.8 36.5 29.8 22.3 12.0 7.8 24.9 19.6 18.1 24.4

latest
Active contributors to the pension system as a percentage of the labour force (percentage)4 .. 41.7 2.9 24.0 7.9 48.7 8.4 37.3 56.8 42.0 26.2
available year

Effective social protection coverage of older persons (SDG indicator 1.3.1): Share of population latest
.. 100 9.9 14.8 6.3 18.6 14.9 48.0 33.1 89.1 40.9
above statutory retirement age receiving an old-age pension4 available year
Health and
well-being

Share of cardiovascular diseases out of the disease burden for people aged 70 years or over,
2016 .. 27.9 31.4 37.2 37.6 36.4 30.9 36.4 24.9 23.2 32.6
both sexes (percentage)5

Share of diabetes mellitus out of the disease burde for people aged 70 years or over,
2016 .. 9.7 3.1 5.0 5.0 4.2 4.7 4.6 2.1 5.0 4.9
both sexes (percentage)5

total .. 78.2 (2018) 53.1 (2015) 74.3 (2018) 58.6 (2015) 75.5 (2018) 58.2 (2016) 94.3 (2015) 86.4 (2018) 78.7 (2015) 85.8 (2018)
latest
Literacy rate of persons aged 65 years or over6 male .. 90.3 (2018) 76.9 (2015) 84.6 (2018) 74.7 (2015) 85.7 (2018) 70.6 (2016) 94.6 (2015) 95.5 (2018) 85.4 (2015) 94.5 (2018)
available year
female .. 66.8 (2018) 36.9 (2015) 65.6 (2018) 44.7 (2015) 65.9 (2018) 49.2 (2016) 94.1 (2015) 78.9 (2018) 73.3 (2015) 80.3 (2018)
Education and living arrangements

total .. .. 4.5 1.6 .. .. .. .. 14.7 2.6 ..

latest
Individuals aged more than 74 using the internet (percentage)7 male .. .. 4.5 2.2 .. .. .. .. 20.7 3.5 ..
available year
female .. .. 4.5 1.1 .. .. .. .. 10.7 2.1 ..

total .. .. 5.1 10.4 1.4 8.3 5.7 9.8 .. 6.4 10.5

latest
Percentage of people aged 65 or over living alone8 male .. .. 2.6 4.6 0.8 5.1 3.6 7.9 .. 5.2 5.2
available year
female .. .. 6.8 15.3 1.9 11.1 7.2 11.1 .. 7.3 13.9

total .. .. 10.9 6.1 .. 4.2 5.6 8.9 .. .. ..

latest
Percentage of people aged 65 living in a skip generation household8 male .. .. 10.4 6.1 .. 4.0 4.5 8.4 .. .. ..
available year
female .. .. 11.3 6.1 .. 4.4 6.4 9.3 .. .. ..

total .. .. 72.6 64.0 .. 69.0 75.6 61.2 .. .. ..

latest
Percentage of people aged 65 living in a multi-generation household8 male .. .. 69.4 61.5 .. 64.7 75.2 58.5 .. .. ..
available year
female .. .. 74.9 66.1 .. 72.6 76.0 63.2 .. .. ..

2020
Sources:
1. ESCAP calculations based on United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects 2019,
Online Edition. Rev. 1.
2. World Health Organization (2020). Global Health Observatory data repository. Healthy Life Expectancy. Online. Available from:

Older persons in
https://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.HALEXREGv?lang=en. Accessed 20 November 2020.
3. International Labour Organization (2020). ILOSTAT database. Online. Available from https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/. Accessed 20 November 2020.
4. International Labour Organization (2020). World Social Protection Data Dashboards. Online Download Table (Excel). Available from:
https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/WSPDB.action?id=19. Accessed 22 January 2021.

ASEAN in numbers
5. ESCAP calculations from World Health Organization (2018). Global Health Estimates 2016: Disease burden by Cause, Age, Sex, by Country and by Region,
2000-2016. Geneva. Available from: https://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/estimates/en/index1.html.
6. UNESCO Institute of Statistics. UIS Stat. Online database. Available from : http://data.uis.unesco.org. Accessed 20 November 2020.
7. International Telecommunication Union (2010). “ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (WTI) Database 2020.”
8. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). Living Arrangements of Older Persons, 2019. Online. Available from:
https://population.un.org/LivingArrangements/index.html#!/countries/76.

Technical notes:
Total fertility rate: The average number of children a hypothetical cohort of women would have at the end of their reproductive period if they were subject during
their whole lives to the fertility rates of a given period and if they were not subject to mortality. It is expressed as number of children per woman.
Healthy life expectancy at birth: Average number of years that a person can expect to live in “full health” by taking into account years lived in less than full health
due to disease and/or injury.
Median age: Age that divides the population in two parts of equal size, that is, there are as many persons with ages above the median as there are with ages
below the median.

General notes:
Single year interpolations calculated by ESCAP.
Regional and subregional figures represent population-weighted averages calculated by ESCAP. Missing values are not imputed.
This publication does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any
country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Two periods (..) indicate no data available.
0 indicates that the magnitude is not zero, but less than half of the unit employed.

Suggested citation:
United Nations, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (2020). ASEAN Ageing Data Sheet 2020.

For more information, please contact:

Social Development Division Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Email: escap-sdd@un.org
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, 2020
 2020 Older persons in ASEAN in numbers

In ASEAN, 74 million people are 60 years Countries more advanced in population All countries are ageing rapidly
old or over ageing also have older labour forces Speed of population ageing = number of years required or expected for percentage of population
aged 65 or over to rise continuously from 7 to 14 per cent (measured from 1950 onwards)
Number of people aged 60 or over in ASEAN countries (thousands), 2020 Median age of the working-age population in ASEAN countries (years), 2020

Thailand 22
Lao People’s Democratic Republic 34.4

Singapore 21
Cambodia 34.9
Philippines
Viet Nam 21
Thailand 9,433
13,412 Myanmar 36.2
Malaysia 26

Malaysia 36.5
Indonesia Indonesia 23

27,524 Philippines 37.4 Myanmar 31

Myanmar Malaysia Brunei Darussalam 38.2 Brunei Darussalam 14

5,433 3,549

Viet Nam Viet Nam 38.7

Philippines 33

11,988
Cambodia 28
Indonesia 39.6
Cambodia Singapore
1,265 1,225 Lao People’s Democratic Republic 24

Singapore 43.7
2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060
Lao People’s Brunei
Democratic Republic Darussalam
494 42 Thailand 43.7 Year/number of years

Source: ESCAP calculations based on United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects Source: International Labour Organization (2020). ILOSTAT database. Online. Available from https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/. Source: ESCAP calculations based on: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects
2019, Online Edition. Rev. 1. 2019, Online Edition and Kinsella, Kevin and Wan He (2009). “An Aging World: 2008”. International Population

Proportions of populations aged 60 or Life expectancy has been steadily increasing Fertility has been declining sharply
over and 80 or over are expected to, and is expected to continue to rise Total fertility rates in ASEAN countries, 1990-2050
respectively, double and triple or more Life expectancy at birth in ASEAN countries, 1990-2050

Percentage of the population aged 60 or over and 80 or over in 2020 and 2050 in ASEAN countries 90 7

85
6

60+ 80+

Number of births per woman (aged 15-49)

80
Singapore 5

Thailand 75

Viet Nam 4

70
Malaysia
Years

Indonesia 3
65
Myanmar

Brunei Darussalam 60
2

Philipines
1
Cambodia 55

Lao People’s Democratic Republic

50 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Percentage Percentage

Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Lao People's Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Viet Nam Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Lao People's Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Viet Nam
2020 2050 2020 2050 Darussalam Democratic Darussalam Democratic
Republic Republic

Source: ESCAP calculations based on United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects Source: ESCAP calculations based on United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects Source: ESCAP calculations based on United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects
2019, Online Edition. Rev. 1. 2019, Online Edition. Rev. 1. 2019, Online Edition. Rev. 1.

Women live longer lives than men, but Older women exceed older men in numbers More women than men aged 65 or over
also spend more time with impairments and as a proportion of the population are living alone
Healthy life expectancy at birth, women and men, and years spent with impairments, 2016 Percentage of women and men aged 60 or over and aged 80 or over in ASEAN countries, 2020 Percentage of men and women aged 65 or over living in a one-person household
(defined as the difference between life expectancy at birth and healthy life expectancy at birth)
18

60+ 80+
68.8 8.1 76.9
Brunei Darussalam 67.0 7.5 74.5
16
15.3
Brunei Darussalam 50.2 49.8 53.0 47.0
62.1 9.4 71.5 13.9
Cambodia 59.4 7.8 67.2 14
Cambodia 60.9 39.1 63.1 36.9
63.0 10.6 73.6
Indonesia 60.4 8.9 69.3 12
Indonesia 52.9 47.1 62.8 37.2 11.1 11.1
Lao People’s 58.8 10.4 69.2
Democratic Republic 56.9 8.8 65.7
10
Lao People’s Democratic Republic 53.5 46.6 60.3 39.7
68.1 10.0 78.1
Malaysia
Percentage

65.3 8.7 74.0

7.9
Malaysia 50.7 49.3 50.9 49.1 8
7.3
59.9 9.9 69.8 7.2
Myanmar 6.8
56.9 6.8 63.7
Myanmar 58.6 41.4 65.3 34.7 6
64.2 11.1 75.3 5.2 5.2
Philippines 5.1
59.4 7.7 67.1 4.6
Philippines 56.1 43.9 67.5 32.5
77.6 7.9 85.5 4 3.6
Singapore 74.7 6.6 81.3
Singapore 49.8 50.2 61.4 38.6 2.6
69.8 10.8 80.6 1.9
Thailand 64.0 9.1 73.1
2

Thailand 55.4 44.6 60.8 39.2 0.8

70.7 8.7 79.4
Viet Nam 64.2 7.0 71.2 0
Viet Nam 57.9 42.1 67.8 32.2 Cambodia Indonesia Lao People's Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Thailand Viet Nam
0 20 40 60 80 100 (2014) (2017) Democratic (2000) (2016) (2017) (2000) (2009)
Republic
(2005)
Healthy life expectancy at birth Years spent with impairments Life expectancy at birth
women men women men Women Men Women Men

Source: ESCAP calculations based on United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects Source: ESCAP calculations based on United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects 2019, Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). Living Arrangements of Older Persons, 2019. Online. Available
2019, Online Edition. Rev. 1. World Health Organization (2020). Global Health Observatory data repository. Healthy Life Expectancy. Online. Available from: Online Edition. Rev. 1. from: https://population.un.org/LivingArrangements/index.html#!/countries/76.
https://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.HALEXREGv?lang=en. Accessed 20 November 2020.

Those in higher income groups are often Low fertility and high life expectancy More older men than women are
more likely to receive a pension result in population ageing participating in the labour force
Percentage of beneficiaries of contributory pensions by income quintile relative to the total number Total fertility rate and life expectancy at birth in ASEAN countries, 2020 Labour force participation of older women and men (percentage of older persons aged 60 or
of beneficiaries in the population, latest available year over), 2020
2.8

Lao PDR 70
2.6
Indonesia Malaysia Myanmar Cambodia
Philippines
Cambodia
Total fertility rate (number of births per woman)

2.4 60
Indonesia
23 11 21
24 Indonesia
21 21 17 2.2
49 Myanmar 50
14 32 Viet Nam
2.0 Malaysia Philippines
9 18 16 18
4 Singapore
Men, percentage

40

1.8 Malaysia Lao PDR

Philippines Viet Nam Brunei Darussalam Viet Nam

Thailand The labour force participation rate is a measure of the
30 proportion of a country’s working-age population that
1.6 engages actively in the labour market, either by working or
Thailand looking for work; it provides an indication of the size of the
26 20 Myanmar
supply of labour available to engage in the production of
17 goods and services, relative to the population at working
1.4 20 age.  To some degree, the way in which the labour force is
measured can have an effect on the extent to which men and
16 43 women are included in labour force estimates. Participation
13 37 Singapore
among certain groups of workers may be underestimated,
1.2 Brunei Darussalam particularly for people unpaid employment or work near
9 13 10 their home, thus mixing work and personal activities during
5 the day. Since women, more so than men, are often found in
1.0 these situations, it is to be expected that the number of women
in employment (and thus the female labour force) will tend to
65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 be underestimated to a larger extent than the number of men.
0
Life expectancy at birth (years) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Income quintiles

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Aged: percentage of population aged 65 or over ≥ 14 per cent Ageing: percentage of population aged 65 or over ≥ 7 and < 14 per cent Women, percentage
Primarily young: percentage of population aged 65 or over < 7 per cent

Source: ESCAP calculations based on World Bank, The Atlas of Social Protection: Indicators of Resilience and Equity, online database, Last Updated: Source: ESCAP calculations based on United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects Source: International Labour Organization (2020). ILOSTAT database. Online. Available from https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/. Accessed 20 November 2020.
09/09/2020. 2019, Online Edition. Rev. 1.