Armenia climbs in Global AgeWatch Index to rank 40th

Armenia climbs in Global AgeWatch Index to rank 40th

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Global AgeWatch Index was published October 1, ranking 96 countries according to the social and economic wellbeing of older people. Armenia took the 40th spot up from 51st place in last year’s ranking, Helpage International webpage said.

Globally Norway (1) tops the Index this year, closely followed by Sweden. Apart from Japan (9) all the top 10 countries are again in Western Europe, North America and Australasia. Five new countries have been added - Bangladesh, Iraq, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia.

In the Index, Ukraine dropped to 82nd spot from 66th last year, with senior Ukrainians’ health and living conditions showing significant decline, the report said.

Among ex-Soviet countries, Estonia made it to top 20, followed by Georgia (28), Latvia (35), Armenia (40), Kirghizstan (49), Lithuania (60), Tajikistan (61), Belarus (64), Russia (65), Moldova (74), Ukraine (82).

The worst place for an older person is Afghanistan (96). Just above it come Mozambique (95), West Bank and Gaza (94) and Malawi (93).

All regions are represented in the lowest quarter, with African countries making up half of those with low income security rankings and poor health results. Venezuela (76), Serbia (78) and Turkey (77) are included in this section in similar position to countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Chile (22) leads a cluster of Latin American countries including Uruguay (23), Panama (24), Costa Rica, (26) Mexico (30), Argentina (31), Ecuador (33) and Peru (42) which do well in the Index particularly on income security.

There are currently 868m people over 60 – nearly 12 per cent of the global population. By 2050, it’s predicted to rise to 21 per cent, nearly as many people aged 60 or over as those under 15 – 2.02 billion compared with 2.03 billion.

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