The countries at the far right of the chart have a real problem — the “oldies” (over 65) will be almost as numerous as the workers by 2050. The red dot shows the situation in 2000 and highlights the rapid deterioration in all countries over the period. And the working-age population? This is defined by the UN as all people aged between 16 and 64. In the developed world this segment of the population, on average, is now starting to shrink. This will deduct around 0.3% annualised from GDP growth over the next 35 years. In the previous 35 years it added an average of 0.4% annualised to developed world GDP growth. The combination of the two means a comparative (negative) growth differential of 0.7% annualised in the next several decades.