IAA Paper on World Population Prospects

The International Actuarial Association (IAA) is pleased to announce the publication of the discussion paper Actuarial Perspectives on World Population Prospects 2019 developed by its Population Issues Working Group.

This paper provides an overall actuarial perspective on the United Nations (UN) World Population Prospects 2019 (WPP2019).  WPP2019 presents the latest revision of population projections for the world and for individual countries, groups of countries and regions, summarizing estimates for 1950 to 2019 and projections from 2020 to 2100.

This paper aims to inform actuaries around the world about the possible evolution of the world’s population based on the UN report. The paper discusses the methodologies used in WPP2019 and the assumptions underlying the projections. It identifies some areas of particularly great uncertainty that should be considered when using these projections in actuarial work such as developing population projections for applications in individual countries and financial reviews of social security plans. The paper also aims to summarize some of the key features of the results of WPP2019 in a way which will interest and inform actuaries, as well as a wider audience of organizations with which the IAA interacts.

The paper is available on the IAA website under PUBLICATIONS/PAPERS.

The Population Issues Working Group will host a webinar on December 2, 2020 at 7:00 AM (EST) to present this paper. To register for the webinar, please click here.

This activity advances the IAA’s mission and strategic objectives to provide key supranational institutions with actuarial expertise on issues of relevance in global forums and to promote the advancement of scientific knowledge and skills of the actuarial profession.

To learn more about the work of the IAA on this topic, contact the Director of Technical Activities at the IAA Secretariat.