Economics of Healthy and Active Ageing Series 2019

Population ageing is often perceived negatively from an economic standpoint. Yet, taking a more balanced view, it becomes evident that a growing older population is not necessarily very costly to care for, and that older people provide significant economic and societal benefits – particularly if they are healthy and active. This is the broad perspective of the Economics of Healthy and Active Ageing series: to inspire a ‘re-think’ of the economic consequences of population ageing.

In this series, The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies investigate key policy questions associated with population ageing, bringing together findings from research and country experiences. We review what is known about the health and long-term care costs of older people, and consider many of the economic and societal benefits of healthy ageing. Policy options within the health and long-term care sectors are also explored, as well as other areas, which: minimize avoidable health and long-term care costs support older people so that they can continue to contribute meaningfully to society, or  contribute to the sustainability of care systems in the context of changing demographics.

Read the following publications as part of this series below:

• Health and social care near the end of life: can policies reduce costs and improve outcomes?
• Living longer, but in better or worse health?
• Working at older ages: why it’s important, how it affects health, and the policy options to support health capacity for work
• Sustainable health financing with an ageing population: will population ageing lead to uncontrolled health expenditure growth?
• Will population ageing spell the end of the welfare state?: a review of evidence and policy options
• Sustainable health financing with an ageing population: implications of different revenue raising mechanisms and policy options