The most remarkable takeaway in a new Bruegel report is how relatively contained Europe’s fiscal burden appears in aggregate
GREYING Europe has long been considered an outlier in global demographics. But the rising cost to its governments in terms of bills for pensions and healthcare is more manageable than assumed, and less than in rival economies in America and China.
In a detailed report on the rising cost to the public purse from Europe’s ageing population, Brussels-based think tank Bruegel this week outlined a trajectory through 2070 using the latest country-by-country data from the European Commission.
Familiar problems and necessary remedies recur: pressure on Budgets due to longer lifespans, the need to raise retirement ages gradually and for better-funded pension and care systems, and more targeted employment-based inward migration.
