Demographic Dividend and the Future of Asia

This chapter highlights the importance of the demographic dividend, which represents a key nexus between demographic and economic growth, and its implication for the future of Asia. It touches on the conditions for attaining a demographic dividend, namely, the demographic conditions, timing of the demographic transition, human resource conditions, and policy conditions. The contributions of the demographic transition to the Asian miracles during the past few decades are provided. The prospects for a second demographic dividend are also briefly discussed. The central message is that demography is important for Asia's economic and societal prospects in decades to come. This is particularly true in terms of the effect of age structure on the economy via labor supply, human capital, productivity, and behavior of the workforce, all of which will affect individual savings, and educational development. Keywords: Asia; demographic dividend; demographic growth; demographic transition; economic growth; educational development; human capital; individual savings; labor supply; policy conditions