The Demographic Window of Opportunity

This special issue of Asian Population Studies focuses on a phenomenon frequently called the "demographic window of opportunity." This window arises from the fact that during a certain phase in the process of demographic transition, the population of working age as a fraction of the total population is unusually high. Because birth rates have already fallen, the youth dependency ratio is low and because there are not yet as many elderly, the old age dependency ratio is also low. Records over the past decades have shown that this period of low total demographic dependency ratios can be associated with rapid economic growth, particularly if associated with investments in health and education. As the old age dependency ratios will eventually increase, this window of opportunity will also gradually close.

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