Ageing population and insurance

Ageing population is a global phenomenon that is significantly affecting the insurance industry. This demographic trend leads to:

• increased health insurance needs: Health and long-term care benefits for the elderly are rising, driving up costs for insurers.
• high expenses related to retirement benefits: insurers are facing high expenses due to the longevity of the population: annuity products and retirement benefits.
• increases in elderly dependency benefits: Ageing population is driving an increase in the number of dependent people or people losing their independence. The cost of providing these benefits is rising steadily, mainly in Japan, the United States and Europe. In France, this cost is expected to reach 50 billion EUR by 2030.

In Luxembourg, for example, life premiums fell by 11.6% in 2022, while benefits increased by 33.4% compared with 2021. The same trend was observed in Italy and Belgium, with net outflows of 1.3 billion EUR and 1 billion EUR respectively in 2022.

In the United States, the population aged 50 and over is set to double by 2050, while public pension funds faced a 1.4 trillion USD deficit in 2022.

Percentage of population aged 65 and over by country or region in 2023

Apart from Monaco, whose national population has been estimated at 9 700 at the end of 2022, the majority of whom are female, Japan will have the highest percentage of elderly people. With 29% of its population over 65, there are also 20 million people over 75, out of a total population of 124 million, representing 16.1% of the total population.

Globally, the proportion of the dependent population to the working-age population is set to rise from 15% in 2019 to 26% in 2050.

Source : 2023-World-Population-Data-Sheet-Booklet