A report on elderly well-being developed by HelpAge International and the United Nations Fund for Population and Development (UNFPA) puts Colombia in 54th place out of 90 countries included in the study.
The Global Index of Aging, released on Tuesday on the UN’s International Day of Older Persons, was the first research paper of its kind to measure the quality of life and well-being of elderly people across the world. The report analyzes factors such as income, health, education, employment and age-friendly environment in each country using data from global agencies including the UN, the World Health Organization and the World Bank.
At number 54, Colombia was in the bottom half when compared to other countries but scored well in the separate health ranking at 26th. For the three other separate measures of secure income, education and employment, and favorable environments, Colombia was toward the bottom of the ranking.
Compared to other nations in the region Colombia ranked 10th, just below the middle. Chile leads the group of Latin American countries included in the study with Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama also performing well.
The study included 89 % of the world’s population and was aimed to address a lack of international data on the extent and impact of global aging draw attention to those countries that do not meet the needs of this population.
Sweden ranked at the top of the table and other European countries with a history of social democratic governance ranked well. According to the study, countries are struggling with rapidly aging populations. Presently people over 60 outnumber children under five years old and by the year 2050, for the first time in history, seniors older than 60 will outnumber children younger than 15.