Asian populations will grow old at a faster pace than any other region in the coming decades, giving rise to concerns that emerging economies such as China and Thailand could see growth stall before they transition into high-income status, economists said.
Such a development, if it materializes, will strain public finances and limit governments' ability to put in place the necessary systems, such as pensions, to cater to the growing number of seniors, experts told CNBC.
Standard Chartered economists wrote in a note that Asia's rapid aging will hit the growth of China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand by 2020, and Singapore by 2025. That would be before China's projected transition into a high-income economy in 2026 and Thailand's "well after 2040."
Source:http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/19/emerging-asia-risks-growing-old-before-becoming-rich.html