That's the message of a new World Bank report that warns that the entire region's economic progress could come to a grinding halt by 2025, unless governments act quickly to institute reforms.
One of its authors, Gordon Betcherman, said populations across the region were aging -- and shrinking -- as fertility rates dropped and people lived longer, thanks to higher incomes and better health conditions.
He said this put an enormous strain on countries where the working-age population is shrinking and where pension and health-care systems are already not functioning well.
But he said countries could still avoid economic catastrophe if they took urgent action on several fronts -- getting more people into work, improving the business climate, and ensuring their labor forces were better educated and skilled.
| FURTHER READING | |
 The World Bank's Gordon Betcherman says countries can avoid economic catastophe -- if they act now. more
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 Russia's population is declining fast thanks to a low birth rate, short life expectancy, and high death rates from accidents, suicides, and disease..more
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