This ADBI Featured Speaker Webinar spotlighted Vegard Skirbekk of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Columbia University’s Columbia Aging Center who presented a new measure of aging burden based on the aging-related health of the adult population – the Health Adjusted Dependency Ratio (HADR). Based on calculations for 188 countries, he discussed whether this measure is a better predictor of changes in per capita healthcare expenditure than the standard old-age dependency ratio (OADR).

He also explained how, relative to the OADR, the HADR indicates there is much less variation in the burden of aging across countries than has previously been assumed. This implied that the OADR probably overestimates the burden of population aging in many demographically older countries, and underestimates the aging burden in many demographically younger countries. The discussion was followed by an audience question and answer session.

About the Speaker

Vegard Skirbekk is a Professor of Population and Family Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and a Professor at Columbia University’s Columbia Aging Center. His research focuses on understanding the links between aging, health, and worker productivity in countries undergoing demographic change globally.

Skirbekk has published widely in academic journals and his research has received attention in global media such as BBC, The New York Times, The Economist, New Scientist). He has also received research support from European Union funding bodies, including the European Research Council, and research councils from several countries.

See more about this ADBI event here.