Sao Paulo’s aging population brings new challenges to city

Latin America

Sao Paulo's aging population brings new challenges to city

Monday marks World Population Day, and more than 7.3 billion people are inhabit our planet.

With that growing number comes increasing challenges. Brazil is an instance, where birth rates have dropped significantly while its elderly population is rising.

CCTV America’s Paulo Cabral reported from Sao Paulo.

According to the latest official government data, Sao Paulo now has almost 12 million inhabitants.

Many said there are simply too many people in Sao Paulo but it is actually an aging population. Across the country, officials are struggling to meet the needs of more and more elderly Brazilians.

Brazil’s working age population still outnumbers the country’s children and elderly citizens. But experts warn this may not be the case for long.

“Right now Brazil is going through a demographic transition, with many in working age. So the country has to generate wealth now to prepare for different needs in the future as we see the number of senior citizens growing,” Gustavo Coelho, Geographer from Sao Paulo’s Catholic University said.

The aging population is usually the consequence of development that causes birth rates to drop and life expectancy to rise. Growing deficits in the country’s pensions, social security and health care systems will need to be addressed as the population continues to age.