DEMOGRAPHICS are likely to derail Malaysia’s plan to become a top 20 nation by 2050 under the 2050 National Transformation (TN50) initiative, a report said.

Instead, Malaysia is more likely to be aging, poor, sick and end up with fewer children, The Edge reported an economist as saying at a population forum in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

DM Analytics Malaysia chief economist Dr Muhammed Abdul was quoted as saying that by 2050, the population would reach 40 million “but we are going to be an old society. Old, poor, sick, have to work and without children or grandchildren”.

He said the country did not have policies in place to address an aging population.

The United Nations has estimated that by 2035, more than 15% of the population will be above 65 compared with 8% now.

“That speed (25 years to reach an aging population) is one of the fastest in the world,” Muhammed said.

The saving rate is also low with 70% of Malaysians about to withdraw their funds having less than RM50,000 in their EPF and about 20% with less than RM7,000.

Malaysia also has one of the highest smoking and obesity rates in the world. The fertility rate has also dropped from 6.2 children per woman during Merdeka to 1.9 per woman today. – April 26, 2017.