Global Aging Vulnerability Index

The CSIS Aging Vulnerability Index, or AVI, represents the first attempt to develop a comprehensive quantitative measure of the global aging challenge that is comparable across the developed countries.  The bottom line is a ranking of the major developed countries in terms of their “vulnerability” to rising old-age dependency costs.  Released in 2003 at a joint CSIS–European Commission conference in Brussels, the AVI is now being thoroughly revised and updated to reflect new developments—demographic, economic, and programmatic.

 

Global Aging and the Sustainability of Public Pension Systems, released in January 2007, chronicles the efforts of twelve developed countries to prepare for their coming age waves—and in particular, to reform their public pension systems. The study contrasts and compares retirement systems in different countries, discusses recent reforms, and evaluates likely developments.  It supplements the AVI’s strictly quantitative conclusions with a more qualitative analysis that takes into account differences in institutions, politics, and culture between countries. 

 

GAI is now in the early stages of revising and extending its original developed-country AVI to include fast-aging emerging market economies such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, Mexico, and South Korea. The project will also include the development of an interactive website featuring data retrieval and sensitivity analysis, a bulletin board, a managed blog, and continuously updated news and analysis of global aging issues. The site would function as an information switchboard for a community that includes everyone who makes or uses long-term forecasts of demographic, fiscal, and economic trends—whether in government, business, or the media.