Vietnam gearing up for aged society
Population aging, especially in developing economies like Vietnam, is creating new pressure and challenges to which the population and development work needs to flexibly respond as there are only 14 years left for Vietnam to prepare for an aged society. Experts held that Vietnam posts the fastest speed of population aging in the world. Those aged 60 and over accounted for 11.9% of the total population in 2019 and by 2050, this figure is forecast to rise to over 25%. By 2038, the country will enter the “aged population” period, transitioning from an “aging” to an “aged” society.
In the face of population aging and labour shortage risk, Vietnam should be proactive and creative in finding out effective solutions. Besides, it needs to learn experiences of other countries that have coped with population aging to develop reality-matching policies to enhance older persons’ self-reliance and independence, especially in terms of finance. The country should also provide opportunities and improve their capacity so that the elderly can become fully involved in the social security, social insurance, and healthcare systems, while ensuring their rights so that they can achieve “successful aging”.
