Signal The EU workforce is projected to shrink by about two million people a year toward 2040

Summary

Draghi projects that the EU labour force will shrink by roughly two million workers every year until around 2040. Over the same period the ratio of workers to retirees is expected to fall from about three to one to about two to one. With labour input contracting, the report argues that the EU can no longer count on a growing workforce to drive growth. If productivity keeps growing at its post-2015 average of 0.7 percent a year, GDP would do no more than hold steady through 2050 under these demographic assumptions. Ageing therefore makes the productivity question considerably more urgent for Europe.