If the population is no longer growing, will the demand for property be growing?

If the population is no longer growing, will the demand for property be growing?

What happens when there are more older population versus the young?

When we reach 60 years old, chances are we would no longer be working. Or may not hold a full-time position. That means we no longer earn any salary or earn a lower salary. Maybe we no longer pay tax. If the younger population is huge, this is not a problem because working adults paying tax far exceeds the retirees. However, what happens when there are more retirees versus working adults? It gets much harder.

With fewer babies, chances are in future, there would not be enough working people to support the nation of old folks. Fortunately, this is not happening so soon but yes, Malaysia has already reached ageing nation status.Let’s look at some definitions.

United Nation’s definition for ageing, aged and super aged population is this:

“The United Nations refers to the share of the population over 60 to define how old a country is. For developed countries a line drawn at age 65 is preferred, because this is normally when people can claim social security. Thus, a country is defined as “aging” when the share of people aged 65+ is above 7 percent, “aged” when it is 14 percent or more, and “super-aged” when it exceeds 20 percent.” Source here: worldbankgroup.org

Malaysia is NOT yet an aged nation yeah

Malaysia became an aging nation in 2021. Article in mof.gov.my “Malaysia is projected to become an ‘aged nation’ by 2048, when the proportion of citizens aged 65 and above reaches 14 per cent of the total population, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said.” Article in mof.gov.my Just need to note that our median age if 30. So, when it comes to property investment, it is still a very good investment type. Just go and look at the number baby diaper brands to have some idea yeah.

Or the fact that we have over 300,000 fresh graduates every year would also tell us that these people would soon need a property. Whether they want to rent or they want to buy, they will need this in the near future.

Other articles quoting ageing or aged or super aged

Here’s one earlier article about ageing, aged and super aged nation too. Malaysia expected to become a super aged nation by 2056.

Here’s one earlier article about Singapore becoming aged nation in 2017 and it will become a super aged nation by 2026. (Yes, 2 years away). “Initiatives in place to tackle ageing issues as S’pore hits ‘super-aged’ status in 2026: Health Minister.”

Thailand is an aged nation since 2005. Article in World Health Organisation. (Click here to read)

Japan’s super ageing society. They are the oldest super aged nation in the world. Article in harvard.edu (click to read)

Here’s an image for us to have an overview

Malaysia is not in this chart because we just achieved ageing nation in 2021. These nations are ahead of us in this race to super aged nation.

The way we invest will be different when a nation becomes an aging, aged or super aged nation

One example is that we may want to invest into products and services catered to the elderly. Buy shares of companies which are in the right business will provide good dividends. Buy companies focused on health products and services maybe.

Property which are right-sized with the right attributes is another example. The elderly does not need a super big house yeah. They need a home which is has a community with good recreational facilities. They may need a home to be close to medical care or even provides access to medical professionals within a short period of time for example.

When the nation’s demographics changes, we need to know and take the appropriate actions yeah. It is also safe to assume that the days of big families all staying in the same huge bungalows may no longer be the case yeah. So, do invest wisely. Happy knowing.

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