Labour force gets older by the day

The greying of the New Zealand worker continues, with the median age of the labour force projected to increase to 42 by 2012.

Statistics New Zealand said yesterday that the median was 39 in 2001.

Most of the change in the age composition of the labour force resulted from general ageing of the population.

New Zealand's labour force is projected to increase from 2 million in 2001 to peak at 2.4 million in the mid-2020s. Nearly half the increase is expected between 2001 and next year, mainly because of the burgeoning population aged 45 and over.

Beyond 2021, the number of people in the labour force is likely to stabilise as new entrants roughly balanced retirements, says Statistics NZ.

In 1991, the labour force aged 25 to 44 numbered 870,000, twice as large as the labour force aged 45 to 64. But in 2013 there will be about 910,000 in each group.

The proportion of the population aged 65 and over in the labour force increased from 6 per cent in 1991 to 8 per cent in 2001 and is predicted to increase to 13 per cent in 2011.

The labour force aged 65 and over is expected to increase to 102,000 in 2021, from an estimated 25,000 in 1991 and 38,000 in 2001.

- NZPA