Behind the scenes of two major UN DESA reports

UN DESA will kick-off 2023 with a bang, launching its two flagship reports, the World Social Report (WSR) and the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) in January. Hear from our experts in the fields of ageing, population and macroeconomics and learn more about UN DESA’s analytical work and how it informs Member States’ action plans on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

1. 1. The upcoming World Social Report will examine population ageing trends around the world. What can our readers expect to learn from the report?

Karoline Schmid: “Population ageing is a global human success story. Billions of people around the world have benefitted from improving living conditions that have supported the steady move from high to low levels of fertility and mortality, the main drivers of population ageing globally.

Population ageing is a defining global trend of our time. People are living longer, and more are older than ever before. Globally, a baby born in 2021 could expect to live on average almost 25 years longer than a newborn from 1950, reaching 71 years, with women outliving men by an average of five years.  We also see gains in longevity at older ages. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2019, people who had already survived to age 65, could expect to live on average an additional 18 years worldwide, making celebrating one’s 80th birthday a normality than an exception as it was decades ago.

People also tend to live healthier lives. The number of years lived in good health has increased overall for most people, however, more so for older men than for older women.”

2. 2. In UN DESA, we are able to showcase the interlinkages among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Can you tell us more about the SDGs featured in the World Social Report? How can this analysis help us achieve the Goals?

Daisuke Maruichi: “With population ageing as the underlying theme, the World Social Report showcases linkages between Goal 1 (poverty), Goal 3 (health and well-being), Goal 4 (education), Goal 5 (gender), Goal 8 (decent work and economic growth) and Goal 10 (inequalities).

One central message is that reaping the benefits of population ageing and ensuring the well-being of older persons start with promoting equal opportunity from a young age. Ensuring that everyone has access to quality education, health care and decent work opportunities along the life course is key to boosting economic security in old age and reducing inequality among older persons. These early investments will also help enhance the productive and human potential of older persons. The report also highlights how gender inequalities drive unequal ageing processes. It calls for rebalancing care duties within families and adopting family and labour policies that enable women and men to manage both domestic responsibilities and employment. It also provides concrete recommendations to reduce inequalities in access to old age pensions between women and men.”

3. 3. The world is facing multiple and intertwined global crises. What are the main challenges in economic forecasting during such exceptional times? How did the team overcome these challenges while preparing the World Economic Situation and Prospects?

Zhenqian Huang: “Economic forecasting is always challenging, as forecasters need to consider many different variables, scenarios and impacts of policies. A series of unprecedented and interconnected crises in the past several years have introduced massive uncertainties to the world economy, further complicating the job.

To ensure high quality economic assessment, our forecasting team has more closely followed new developments, more quickly incorporated the very latest information, and more regularly deliberated to build common understanding of the transmission channels of certain events and their economic impacts. In parallel, we have had direct dialogues with experts from governments, international organizations, academia and the private sector to test our assessment and form meaningful policy recommendations, particularly for developing countries.

Although numbers are important, they are not the full story. Our forecasting work goes beyond short-term economic ups-and-downs, and assesses the impact of current crises and countries’ policy responses on long-term economic resilience. In doing so, we help Member States in their efforts to incorporate social and environmental sustainability into economic policymaking.”

Join us for the launch of the World Social Report on 12 January and the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023 on 25 January. Watch the live press briefings on webtv.un.org.