Future of Work - Major trends

Demographic changes leading up to the 2030 (regional perspective)

Given the varying degrees with which ILO regions will be confronted with declines in the rate of population growth, some shifts in the overall shares of the global working-age population will take place over the coming decades. Africa is expected to see its share in the global working-age population rise considerably, i.e. by 5 percentage points. Other regions, with the exception of Europe and Central Asia, will slow at similar paces and therefore their shares will not change much in the coming years. Europe, however, will decline by 4 percentages points, falling to 12 per cent in 2030 compared to 16 per cent in 2000.

Figure: Share of global working-age population by region, 2000 and 2030 (percentages)

Source: ILO calculations based on United Nations World Population prospects, the 2015 revision.
In 2030, Africa and Asia will be home to close to three-quarters of the working-age population. However, already in 2000, these two regions alone accounted for close to two-thirds of the global share. Looking ahead in the context of the future of work, addressing global deficits in decent work will require increased awareness of these demographic shifts and other implications they may have, e.g. on migration and the growth in the global workforce “on the move”.