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1. Population

Population size and population density

In 2018, the world’s population was 7.63 billion inhabitants. The most populous countries in the world were China and India (both G20 members): China’s population was 1.43 billion and India’s was 1.35 billion. There were 446 million inhabitants in the EU-27 in 2018 (the third highest number among G20 members), followed by the United States with 327 million inhabitants, Indonesia with 268 million inhabitants and Brazil with 209 million inhabitants.

China accounted for 18.7 % of the world’s population in 2018 and India for 17.7 % (see Map 1.1). In other words, over one third of the world’s population lived in these two countries. The remaining G20 members accounted for 26.8 % of the world’s population giving a cumulative share for all G20 members of 63.3 %.

The latest United Nations population projections suggest that the pace at which the world’s population is expanding will slow in the coming decades. Nevertheless, the total number of inhabitants worldwide is projected to approach 11 billion by 2100, representing an overall increase of 42.5 % compared with 2018, equivalent to average growth of 0.4 % each year. The number of inhabitants within the 16 non-EU members of the G20 is projected to decrease overall by 3.1 % between 2018 and 2100 (equivalent to an annual decrease of less than 0.1 %) while the EU-27’s population is projected (by Eurostat) to decrease by 8.6 % overall during the same period (equivalent to an annual average decrease of 0.1 %). The populations of many developing countries, in particular those in Africa, are likely to continue growing at a rapid pace. Among the G20 members, the fastest population growth between 2018 and 2100 is projected to be in Australia and Canada (the only G20 countries where populations are projected to grow at a rate above the world average), while the populations of South Korea, Japan, China, Brazil and Russia — like that of the EU-27 — are projected to be smaller in 2100 than they were in 2018.

The G20’s share of the world’s population is projected to fall from 63.3 % in 2018 to 43.0 % by 2100 (see Map 1.2). The EU-27’s share of the world’s population is projected to decline by 2.1 percentage points from 5.9 % to 3.8 %. China’s share is projected to fall by 8.9 points, from 18.7 % to 9.8 % between 2018 and 2100. Equally, although India’s population is projected to increase, the rate of increase is projected to be lower than the world average and as such its share of the world total is projected to fall 4.4 points between 2018 and 2100, from 17.7 % to 13.3 % . In a similar vein, Brazil’s share of the world‘s population is projected to fall from 2.7 % to 1.7 % over the same period while Japan’s is projected to fall from 1.7 % to 0.7 %. None of the other G20 members are projected to see their share of the world’s population increase or decrease by 1.0 percentage points or more.

As well as having the largest overall populations, Asia also had the most densely populated G20 members (see Figure 1.1), namely South Korea, India and Japan, each with more than 300 inhabitants per km² (of land area) in 2018. These were followed by the United Kingdom, China, Indonesia, the EU-27 and Turkey with averages of more than 100 inhabitants per km². Australia, Canada and Russia were the least densely populated G20 members, with less than 10 inhabitants per km² on average.

Population age structure

Ageing society represents a major demographic challenge for many economies and may be linked to a range of issues, including, persistently low levels of fertility rates and significant increases in life expectancy during recent decades.

The median age is the age that divides a population into two groups that are numerically equivalent: half of the population is younger and the other half older. The median age of the world’s population was projected to be 30.9 years in 2020 (see Figure 1.2). Only four of the G20 members were projected to have a median age below this average, namely South Africa, India, Mexico and Indonesia (where median ages were predicted to range from 27.6 to 29.7 years). By contrast, the EU-27 was projected to have a median age of 43.9 years in 2020 which was higher than in any of the other G20 members with the exception of Japan (48.4 years).

Figure 1.3 clearly shows how different the age structures of some of the G20 countries’ populations are from each other and from the world average.

Age groups covering young people generally accounted for the largest shares of the world’s population in 2018, whereas in the EU-27 the share of the age groups below those aged 45-49 years in 2018 generally gets progressively smaller approaching the youngest age groups. This population structure in the EU-27 reflects in part falling fertility rates over several decades and a modest increase about 5-10 years ago, combined with the impact of the baby-boomer age groups (resulting from high fertility rates in several European countries up to the mid-1960s). Another notable difference between the population pyramid for the EU-27 and that for the whole world was the relatively high gender imbalance among older age groups in the EU-27 compared with the world as a whole. Some of the factors influencing age structure are presented in the rest of this chapter and the chapter on health, for example, fertility, migration and life expectancy.

The age pyramid for China in 2018 had some similarities to that for the EU-27, particularly the relatively lower share of the total population that was accounted for by the younger generations. There were however several differences. There were two clear peaks in the shares in China, one around 25-34 years and the other around 45-54 years, with notably smaller shares for the age groups between these. Another notable difference compared with the EU-27 was the much smaller proportion of the population that was accounted for by older people and particularly those aged 80 years and over: in this respect the top of the age pyramid for China was quite similar to the age pyramid for the world.

In broad terms, the age pyramid for India in 2018 was quite similar to that for the whole of the world. Looking in more detail, the relative weight of older people in the total population of India was relatively small compared with the world total. This pattern was apparent for men aged 45 years and over and for women aged 40 years and over; conversely, most of the younger age groups accounted for a relatively high share of the total population. In the age groups for people aged 10-29 years the shares In India were notably larger than for the world as a whole. Unlike the pyramid for the whole of the world, the shares of the two youngest age groups in the Indian population (those aged 0-4 and 5-9 years) were smaller than the share recorded for the age group covering children aged 10-14 years, reflecting lower fertility rates during the most recent decade.

The shape of the age pyramid for Indonesia in 2018 was very similar to that for the world. The main difference was the relatively low share of the Indonesian population that was aged 55 years and over; this was particularly notable among the oldest age group, namely for people aged 80 years and over.

In the United States, the age structure of the population was broadly similar to that in the EU-27. Nevertheless, as in China, there were two peaks in the age distribution, one around 20-34 years of age and the other around 50-59 years of age, with smaller shares for the intervening age groups. In general when compared with the EU-27, the United States had a relatively high share of its population aged less than 35 years, while older age groups tended to account for a smaller share of the population.

The young and old age dependency ratios shown in Figure 1.4 and Figure 1.5 summarise the level of support for younger persons (aged less than 15 years) and older persons (aged 65 years and over) provided by the working-age population (those aged 15 to 64 years).

In 2018, the young-age dependency ratio ranged from 17.9 % in South Korea to more than double this ratio in South Africa (44.3 %). The latest value for the EU-27 (23.5 %) was lower than in all G20 members except for South Korea and Japan. By far the highest old-age dependency ratio in 2018 was the 46.2 % observed in Japan, indicating that there were more than two people aged 65 and over for every five people aged 15 to 64 years. The next highest old-age dependency ratio was 30.8 % in the EU-27. Saudi Arabia had by far the lowest old-age dependency ratio (4.6 %) among G20 members, with South Africa (8.1 %) recording the next lowest ratio.

In percentage point terms, the fall in the young-age dependency ratio for the EU-27 between 1968 and 2018 more than cancelled out an increase in the old-age dependency ratio. Most of the G20 members displayed a similar pattern, with two exceptions: in Japan the increase in the old-age dependency ratio exceeded the fall in the young-age dependency ratio; in Saudi Arabia both young and old-age dependency ratios were lower in 2018 than in 1968, reflecting a large increase in the size of its working-age population.

With relatively low fertility rates the young-age dependency ratio is projected to be lower still in 2068 than it was in 2018 in several G20 members, dropping by 15 percentage points in South Africa and India. By contrast, the young-age dependency ratio is projected to increase in a small number of G20 members, with the largest increase projected in South Korea (up 3.6 points). In the EU-27, the young-age dependency ratio was projected to increase from 23.5 % in 2018 to 24.8 % by 2068.

Old-age dependency ratios are projected to rise in all of the G20 members, suggesting that there will be an increasing need to provide for social expenditure related to population ageing (for example, for pensions, healthcare and long-term care). The EU-27’s old-age dependency ratio is projected to increase from 30.8 % in 2018 to 52.8 % by 2068; as such, it is projected to be considerably lower than in South Korea (88.0 %) or Japan (75.2 %) in 2068.

Urban populations

The growth of urban areas reflects the transition from rural to urban areas resulting from a move away from agriculture-based economies to industrial and post-industrial economies. Urban areas are often characterised by their high concentrations of population, economic activity, employment and wealth. The daily flow of commuters into many cities suggests that numerous opportunities exist in these hubs of innovation, distribution and consumption, many of which act as focal points within regional, national and global economies. Although cities are motors for economic growth, they are also confronted by a wide range of (potential) problems, like crime, traffic congestion, pollution and various social inequalities.

Nearly three quarters (74.5 %) of the EU-27 population lived in an urban area in 2018; this share was considerably above the world average of 55.3 % (see Figure 1.6). Nevertheless, across 11 of the non-EU G20 members, the share of inhabitants living in urban areas was higher than the 74.5 % in the EU-27. This share exceeded 90 % in Argentina (91.9 %) and Japan (91.6 %), while India had by far the lowest share, with just over one third (34.0 %) of its population living in urban areas.

In 2018, 8 of the 10 largest urban agglomerations in the world were located in G20 members — see Figure 1.7. Asian urban agglomerations made up a majority of the top 10, with São Paulo (Brazil), Mexico City (Mexico) and Cairo (Egypt) completing the list. The two largest countries in the world, China and India, each had two cities in the top 10 — Delhi and Mumbai from India as well as Shanghai and Beijing from China — as did Japan (Tokyo and Osaka). Extending the study to the top 30 urban agglomerations, 22 were located in G20 members, including Paris (France) from the EU as well as Istanbul (Turkey) and Moscow (Russia) from elsewhere in Europe.

Population change

There are two distinct components of population change: the natural change that results from the difference between the number of live births and the number of deaths; and the net effect of migration, in other words, the balance between people coming into and people leaving a territory. Since many countries do not have accurate figures on immigration and emigration, net migration may be estimated as the difference between the total population change and the natural population change.

One element of natural change is the number of births which is reflected in measures of fertility. The most widely used indicator of fertility is the total fertility rate: this is the mean number of children that would be born alive to a woman during her lifetime if she were to pass through her childbearing years conforming to the age-specific fertility rates of a given year. A total fertility rate of around 2.1 live births per woman is considered to be the replacement level in developed countries: in other words, the average number of live births per woman required to keep the size of the population constant in the absence of migration.

Fertility rates in the EU steadily declined from the mid-1960s through to the turn of the century. However, at the beginning of the 2000s, the EU’s total fertility rate displayed signs of rising again. This development stopped in 2008 since when the rate for the EU-27 has been between 1.51 and 1.57 children per woman.

Among the G20 members, South Africa reported the highest total fertility rate in 2017, with 2.43 live births per woman (the same rate as the world average). The next highest rates were observed in Saudi Arabia (2.37 live births per woman), Indonesia (2.34), Argentina (2.28), India (2.24) and Mexico (2.16); these were the only G20 members with a total fertility rate that was above the 2.1 replacement level for developed countries. Elsewhere among the G20 members, the total fertility rate was lowest in Japan (1.43) and South Korea (1.05).

As can be seen from Figure 1.8, unsurprisingly, countries with low fertility rates tended to have a relatively high median age for their population, while those with higher fertility rates tended to have a relatively low median age.

In 2017, the crude birth rate (the ratio of the number of live births to the population) for the EU-27 was 9.7, which was among the lowest rates recorded across the G20 members: only Japan (7.6) and South Korea (7.0) recorded lower birth rates. By contrast, the crude birth rate in South Africa (20.9) was more than double the average rate for the EU-27 and above the world average (18.7).

In 2017, the highest crude death rates (the ratio of the number of deaths to the population) were recorded in Russia, Japan and the EU-27 — each with ratios of more than 10.0. In the case of South Africa the relatively high crude death rate reflected, at least in part, an HIV/AIDS epidemic which resulted in a large number of deaths among relatively young persons; the difference between crude birth and death rates in South Africa was almost the same as the world average despite the notably higher birth rate.

When the death rate exceeds the birth rate there is negative natural population change; this situation was experienced in Japan and the EU-27 in 2017. The reverse situation, natural population growth — due to a higher birth (than death) rate — was observed for all of the remaining G20 members (see Figure 1.9) with the largest differences recorded in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Mexico.

The level of net migration is the difference during a fixed period of time between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants; a positive value represents more people entering a country than leaving it.

The net migration rate is the level of net migration (inward migration minus outward migration) expressed in relation to the overall size of the population. Between 2010 and 2015, four G20 members — Mexico, India, Indonesia and China — recorded negative net migration rates (see Figure 1.10), while Brazil and Argentina recorded approximately balanced situations, as immigration and emigration were almost equal. On the other hand, all of the other G20 members — including the EU-27 — experienced positive net migration, with the highest net migration rates in Canada, Australia and Saudi Arabia. This situation was somewhat different to the previous five-year period, as between 2005 and 2010 Argentina and South Korea had also experienced negative net migration, while Turkey had observed a relatively balanced position.

Asylum

Asylum is a form of protection given by a state on its territory. It is granted to a person who is unable to seek protection in their country of citizenship and/or residence in particular for fear of being persecuted for various reasons (such as race, religion or opinion). An asylum seeker is someone who is seeking international protection but whose claim for refugee status has not yet been determined.

As of the beginning of 2018, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that there were 3.0 million asylum seekers across the world and a further 1.0 million applied during the first half of the year. According to the UNHCR, there were 358 thousand applications for asylum during the first half of 2018 in the EU-27. The highest numbers of applications were from Syria (44 thousand), Afghanistan (27 thousand) and Iraq (23 thousand). Over the same period, the largest numbers of asylum applications in the EU from citizens of other G20 members were from citizens of Turkey (9.4 thousand), Russia (9.2 thousand) and China (2.6 thousand).

Refugees include individuals recognised under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees as well as under a number of other protocols and conventions, including people enjoying temporary protection or living in a refugee-like situation. Figure 1.11 shows that, among the G20 members, Turkey had by far the highest number of arrivals of refugees (relative to its population size) in the first half of 2018; the ratio in Turkey was 7.2 times as high as in the EU-27 and reflected its location close to many of the principal countries of origin for refugees. Aside from Turkey and the EU-27, there were relatively high numbers of refugee arrivals relative to population size in Canada and Australia.

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2. Health

Expenditure on health

Healthcare systems are organised and financed in different ways. Monetary and non-monetary statistics may be used to evaluate how a healthcare system aims to meet basic needs for healthcare, through measuring financial, human and technical resources. Public expenditure on healthcare is often funded through government financing (general taxation) or social security funds. Private expenditure on healthcare mainly comes from direct household payments (also known as out-of-pocket expenditure) and private health insurance.

Among G20 members, the United States had by far the highest expenditure on health relative to gross domestic product (GDP), 17.1 % in 2016, almost double the 9.9 % recorded in the EU-27 (see Figure 2.1). Brazil, Japan and Canada each reported double-digit ratios in 2016. Spending on health in Turkey, India and Indonesia was less than 5.0 % of GDP.

Figure 2.1 also shows the absolute level of health expenditure per inhabitant in 2016. The information presented confirms the notably higher level of expenditure on health in the United States, where an average of EUR 8.9 thousand was spent per inhabitant. Expenditure in the range of EUR 3.6-4.5 thousand per inhabitant was recorded in Australia, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom, followed by the EU-27 with average expenditure of EUR 2.8 thousand per inhabitant. By contrast, Indonesia and India recorded by far the lowest levels of health expenditure relative to population size among the G20 members, with averages of EUR 101 and EUR 57 per inhabitant respectively.

The different relative positions of the G20 members when comparing the two indicators shown in Figure 2.1 reflects differences in GDP per inhabitant. This is shown in Figure 2.2 where the ratio of expenditure on health relative to GDP is plotted against GDP per inhabitant. In general, G20 members with low levels of GDP per inhabitant in 2016 reported low ratios of healthcare expenditure relative to GDP, but there were exceptions. For example, Brazil reported a relatively high ratio of healthcare expenditure relative to GDP (11.8 %; second only to the United States), despite having the fifth lowest GDP per inhabitant. Equally, South Africa recorded a relatively high ratio of healthcare expenditure relative to GDP (8.1 %) given that it had the third lowest GDP per inhabitant.

Life expectancy

Among the G20 members, the highest life expectancy at birth in 2017 was recorded in Japan (84 years), while life expectancy was also above 80 years in South Korea, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the EU-27. In two G20 members, life expectancy at birth in 2017 remained below 70 years: it stood at 69 years in India and 64 years in South Africa. The relatively low life expectancy for South Africa may be largely attributed to the impact of an HIV/AIDS epidemic: in 2018, 20 % of the population aged 15-49 years had the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In all G20 members, life expectancy was higher for females than for males (see Figure 2.3): this gender gap ranged from two years in India to seven years in Argentina, South Africa and Brazil, with a notably larger gap of 10 years in Russia.

In line with the data for life expectancy, the highest expected number of healthy life years at birth among the G20 members in 2016 was in Japan (75 years), while in Canada, Australia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the EU-27, the expected number of healthy life years for men and women combined was also higher than 70 years. In South Africa (56 years) and India (59 years), the expected number of healthy life years at birth in 2016 was notably lower than in other G20 members. The gender gap in terms of healthy life years was generally narrower than in terms of life expectancy, ranging with only one exception from almost no difference in Saudi Arabia to no more than five years in each of the remaining G20 members; in Russia the gap was eight years (see Figure 2.4).

Combining the data presented in Figures 2.3 and 2.4 indicates that, on average, people living in all G20 members could expect to live between 86 % and 90 % of their life free from disability (in other words, in a healthy state), with the lowest share recorded in Turkey and the highest in Mexico. In the EU-27, the share was 88 %.

Mortality

Almost all maternal deaths — those related to pregnancy and childbirth — occur in emerging and developing countries, with maternal mortality rates generally higher in their rural areas and among poorer communities. Most maternal deaths are preventable and according to the World Health Organisation the main causes are: severe bleeding (mostly bleeding after childbirth); infections (usually after childbirth); high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia); complications from delivery; and unsafe abortions.

The maternal mortality ratio shows the ratio between the number of maternal deaths and the number of live births , expressed per 100 000 live births (see Figure 2.5). While this ratio was relatively low in about half of the G20 members in 2017, it exceeded 100 per 100 000 live births in Indonesia (177), India (145) and South Africa (119), and was 60 per 100 000 live births in Brazil. The lowest ratios in 2017 — below 10 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births — were reported in the United Kingdom, the EU-27, Australia and Japan.

Between 2000 and 2017, the maternal mortality ratio fell in most G20 members, the exceptions being the United States, where the ratio increased considerably in relative terms (up by almost 60 %), and Canada, where an already low ratio rose slightly. Elsewhere, particularly large falls in the maternal mortality ratio were observed in India and Indonesia, as well as in South Africa, Russia, China, Argentina, Turkey and Mexico.

The infant mortality rate presents the ratio between the number of deaths of children aged less than one year and the number of live births in the same reference period; the resulting value is generally expressed per 1 000 live births. The progress made in medical healthcare services is reflected in the rapid decrease of infant mortality rates; indeed, all but one of the G20 members recorded falls in infant mortality rates between 2013 and 2018 (as shown in Figure 2.6), the exception being the United Kingdom where the rate was unchanged. The largest relative falls were recorded by China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, where infant mortality rates fell by more than one quarter.

The latest data available, for 2018, show that the lowest infant mortality rates among G20 members were recorded in Japan, South Korea, Australia, the EU-27, the United Kingdom and Canada, all under 5 deaths per 1 000 live births. By contrast, infant mortality rates in South Africa and India were more than six times as high, with rates of 29 and 30 deaths per 1 000 live births. Indonesia had the third highest infant mortality rate, while Brazil and Mexico were the only other G20 members to record double-digit rates in 2018.

Healthcare resources

Key indicators for measuring healthcare personnel are based on their number expressed per 100 000 inhabitants. With the notable exception of Argentina, there were more nurses and midwives than there were physicians in all of the G20 members. Relative to population size, the largest numbers of nurses and midwives in 2017 were recorded in Australia, the United States (data exclude midwives), Japan (2016 data) and Canada, all with at least 1 000 nurses and midwives per 100 000 inhabitants.

The variation between the G20 members in the number of is the total number of physicians was relatively low in comparison with the other personnel indicators shown in Figure 2.7. The highest number of physicians relative to the overall population size in 2017 among the G20 members was recorded in Russia, followed closely by Argentina and then the EU-27 and Australia. At the other end of the range, South Africa, India and Indonesia recorded less than 100 physicians per 100 000 inhabitants; note that for India (as well as for China) the definition used differs.

Among the three indicators concerning healthcare personnel, the number of dentists per 100 000 inhabitants showed the greatest variation among the G20 members when taking account of their relatively low overall number. For example, Indonesia recorded an average of 5 dentists per 100 000 inhabitants in 2017, while in Brazil there were 124 dentists per 100 000 inhabitants in the same year. The average for the EU-27 was 74 dentists per 100 000 inhabitants.

Non-medical health determinants

Figures 2.8 to 2.10 provide information on three non-medical health determinants, namely alcohol consumption, smoking and being overweight. The highest annual alcohol consumption in 2016 among G20 members was recorded for Russia (11.7 litres of alcohol per inhabitant aged 15 years and over), the United Kingdom (11.5 litres) and the EU-27 (11.3 litres). They were closely followed by Australia, South Korea, Argentina and the United States with annual alcohol consumption in the range of 9.8-10.6 litres per inhabitant. Relatively low average levels of alcohol consumption were recorded for India and Turkey, while the lowest levels were recorded in Indonesia (0.8 litres) and Saudi Arabia (0.2 litres); these low levels are influenced, to a large degree, by predominant religious beliefs in these countries. In all G20 members the average alcohol consumption in 2016 was greater among men than among women. In relative terms, the widest gender gap was recorded in Turkey where the average consumption by men was 9.3 times as high as that by women. The narrowest gender differences were recorded for Russia and Saudi Arabia where men on average men consumed about three times as much alcohol as women.

Indonesia reported the highest proportion of daily smokers: two fifths (40 %) of the population aged 15 years and over smoked in 2015. One quarter or more of the adult population in Russia (2016 data), Turkey (2016 data) and China (2015 data) smoked daily, while one fifth of the adult population smoked on a daily basis in the EU-27 (2014 data), and slightly less than one fifth in South Africa (2015 data), Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom. Elsewhere, the incidence of daily smoking was at most 12 %, with a low of 8 % recorded in Mexico (note that the definition differs). In all G20 members the proportion of daily smokers in 2017 was greater among men than among women. The widest gender gap was recorded in Indonesia where 76 % of all men aged 15 years and over were daily smokers compared with just 4 % of women (2015 data). The narrowest gender differences were recorded for Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia (2016 data) and the United States.

The most frequently used measure for assessing whether someone is overweight (pre-obese or obese) is based on the body mass index (BMI), which evaluates weight in relation to height. According to the World Health Organisation, adults with a BMI above 25 are considered as overweight: those between 25 and 30 are considered as pre-obese and those with an index over 30 are considered obese.

The highest proportions of men that were overweight in 2016 were observed for the United States (75 % of the male population), Australia and Canada (both 73 %) — see Figure 2.10; note that the data presented may be based on measured results or self-reported data. By contrast, the highest proportions of overweight women were recorded in Saudi Arabia and Turkey (both 70 %), followed by the United States and Mexico (both 66 %). By contrast, a relatively low proportion of men were overweight in Indonesia (25 %) and India (18 %), while for women the lowest proportions were recorded in Japan (25 %) and India (21 %).

The proportion of overweight men was greater than the proportion of overweight women in a small majority of G20 members, with this gap between the sexes reaching more than 10 points in the EU-27, Australia and Canada. In the G20 members where the proportion of overweight women was higher than the proportion of overweight men, the differences were generally quite small, with the notable exception of South Africa where the gap was 25 points.

Among the G20 members there is far greater variability in the proportion of the population who were obese compared with the pre-obese proportion. Five Asian G20 members — China, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea — recorded particularly low proportions of their populations who were considered obese, less than 10 % for both men and for women. The share of obese men was smaller than the share of pre-obese men in all of the G20 members. Among women, this pattern was repeated in a majority of the G20 members, but not in Russia and Canada where the shares of pre-obese and obese women were nearly the same, nor in Turkey, the United States, Saudi Arabia and South Africa where the proportion of women who were obese was notably larger than the proportion that were pre-obese.

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3. Education and training

Educational expenditure

Public expenditure on education includes spending on schools, universities and other public and private institutions involved in delivering educational services or providing financial support to students. The cost of teaching increases significantly as a child moves through the education system, with expenditure per pupil/student considerably higher in universities than in primary schools. Comparisons between countries relating to levels of public expenditure on education are influenced, among other factors, by differences in price levels and the number of pupils and students; in turn, the latter is influenced, to some extent, by the age structure of the population (see the chapter on population for more information).

Figure 3.1 provides information on the level of public expenditure on education relative to gross domestic product (GDP). Among the G20 members this was highest in 2016 in Brazil at 6.2 % (2015 data) and South Africa (5.9 %); note that no recent data are available for Saudi Arabia (where a ratio of 5.9 % was recorded in 2006). With a value of 5.0 %, the ratio in the EU-27 was in the middle of the range for the G20 countries. Between the two years presented in Figure 3.1, there was an increase in the level of public expenditure on education relative to GDP in all but one of the G20 members, most notably (in percentage point terms) in Argentina and Brazil (2006-2015). The one exception was Russia where the ratio of public expenditure on education relative to GDP fell from 3.9 % in 2006 to 3.7 % in 2016.

Numbers of teachers and pupils

Figure 3.2 presents pupil-teacher ratios for primary and secondary education among the G20 members. These ratios are calculated by dividing the number of pupils and students by the number of educational personnel: note they are calculated based on a simple headcount and do not take account of the intensity (for example, full or part-time) of study or teaching.

Within primary education, the world average for the number of pupils per teacher was 23.4 in 2017. Among the G20 members, higher averages were observed in India, South Africa (2015 data) and Mexico, while lower ratios were observed elsewhere, in particular across the EU-27 (14.3), the United States (14.2) and Saudi Arabia (11.7; 2016 data).

Worldwide, the average pupil-teacher ratio for lower secondary education was notably lower than for primary education in 2017 as was also the case in the EU-27 and in nearly all of the non-EU G20 members. The only exceptions were Turkey and the United States where pupil-teacher ratios within lower secondary education were slightly higher than within primary education. India, Mexico, Brazil and Turkey reported average pupil-teacher ratios within lower secondary education that were above the world average (16.8), with India reporting a particularly high ratio (25.9 pupils per teacher). The EU-27 reported an average of 12.0 pupils per teacher in lower secondary education, with only Saudi Arabia (2014 data) reporting a lower ratio.

The average pupil-teacher ratio for lower secondary education worldwide was slightly lower than the ratio for upper secondary education. A lower ratio for lower secondary than for upper secondary education was apparent in a majority of the G20 members, with only the EU-27, South Korea, Brazil, Japan and Mexico having higher pupil-teacher ratios for lower secondary education.

Within upper secondary education, India, South Africa (2015 data) and Turkey were the only G20 members to report average pupil-teacher ratios that were above the world average (17.2 pupils per teacher in 2017), while in the United Kingdom this ratio was equal to the world average. Canada reported the lowest ratio of pupils per teacher within upper secondary education (9.7). Aside from Canada, the only G20 members with pupil-teacher ratios for upper secondary education that were lower than in the EU-27 (11.5) were Japan (10.2) and Saudi Arabia (11.4; 2014 data).

School enrolment

Figure 3.3 presents enrolment ratios for primary education. These net enrolment ratios compare the number of pupils/students of the appropriate age group enrolled at a particular level of education with the size of the population of the same age group; as such, they cannot exceed 100 % as they do not include under or over age children being enrolled in primary education.

Worldwide, primary education net enrolment ratios were 88.2 % for girls and 90.3 % for boys in 2017, with all G20 members reporting higher ratios except for Turkey and South Africa. The highest primary education net enrolment ratio was recorded in Canada at 99.9 %, with the United Kingdom and Argentina reporting ratios of 99.5 % and 99.2 %, followed by South Korea (97.3 %). In the EU-27, the ratio was 94.7 %. Among the G20 members, Indonesia and Turkey reported the largest differences between net enrolment ratios for boys and girls, with the ratio for boys exceeding that for girls by 4.5 and 1.4 percentage points respectively. Elsewhere the gap — whether from higher rates for girls as in Australia and Russia (2016 data) or higher rates for boys as reported elsewhere — was less than 1.0 points.

Educational attainment

Figure 3.4 shows the proportion of the population aged 25 years and over having completed at least upper secondary education and the proportion having completed (at least one stage of) tertiary education. Note that the age coverage is narrower for the EU-27 (25-64 years), the United Kingdom (25-64 years) and Australia (25-74 years).

In the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and the EU-27, the proportion of men and women having completed at least upper secondary education was over 75.0 %, while in South Korea (2015 data) it was also over 75.0 % for men. The proportion of men in the EU-27 in 2018 having completed at least upper secondary education was 77.4 %, while the corresponding value for women was slightly higher, at 78.2 %. In 2018, the proportion of men and women with an upper secondary level of educational attainment was less than 40.0 % in Mexico and Indonesia, while the rate for women in Turkey (2017 data) was also less than 40.0 %. Brazil, the United Kingdom, the EU-27 and the United States were the only G20 members where the proportion of men having completed at least upper secondary education was lower than the equivalent proportion for women. In seven other G20 members, attainment rates for men were higher than those for women, with the largest gender gaps observed in South Korea (12.4 percentage point gap; 2015 data) and Turkey (13.0 points gap; 2017 data).

Tertiary education is generally provided by universities and other higher education institutions. In 2018, between one quarter and one third of the EU-27 adult population had completed tertiary education, 28.6 % of men and 32.9 % of women (see Figure 3.4). Among the non-EU G20 members, the rate of tertiary educational attainment was over 40.0 % for both sexes in the United Kingdom and the United States, while it was over 40.0 % for men in South Korea (2015 data) and for women in Australia. The lowest tertiary educational attainment rates were observed in Indonesia, where 10.0 % of people had completed tertiary education. The largest gender gap in tertiary educational attainment was recorded in South Korea (2015 data), where the proportion for men having completed tertiary education was 9.5 percentage points higher than for women, while the largest gender gap with a higher proportion of women than men having completed tertiary education was observed in Australia.

Not in employment, education or training

Traditional analyses of the labour market focus on employment and unemployment, but for younger people many are still in education. As a result, labour market policies for young people often focus on those who are not in employment, education or training, abbreviated as NEETs. Factors that influence the proportion of NEETs include the length of compulsory education, types of available educational programmes, access to tertiary education and training, labour market factors related to unemployment and economic inactivity (being neither employed nor unemployed), and cultural issues such as the likelihood of taking on caring responsibilities with an extended family and/or the typical age of starting a family.

Figure 3.5 shows the NEET rate of 15-24 years olds in 2018. Among the G20 members, this ranged from 2.9 % in Japan to 31.6 % in South Africa. The EU-27 had a rate of 10.5 %, higher only than in the United Kingdom, Australia (2017 data) and Japan. Canada was the only G20 member to report a larger proportion of young men (rather than young women) who were not in employment, education or training. By far the largest gender gap for this indicator was observed in India, where 48.3 % of young women were not in employment, education or training in 2018, compared with 14.3 % for young men; the next largest gaps were observed in Mexico, Saudi Arabia (2015 data) and Turkey.

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4. Labour market

Particular care should be taken when comparing labour market data between different countries, given that there are sometimes differences in the age criteria used to calculate employment and unemployment rates.

Employment rate

In 2018, the employment rate, calculated as the share of employed persons in the working-age population (defined here as persons aged 15-64 years), was 67.7 % in the EU-27; this rate was roughly in the middle of a ranking of the G20 members. South Africa and India were the only G20 members where less than half of the working-age population were in employment in 2018, with rates of 43.3 % and 47.7 % respectively. In the United States (persons aged 16-64 years), Russia, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom the employment rate was between 70 % and 75 %, while the highest employment rate among G20 members was recorded in Japan, at 76.8 %.

The most recent data (see Figure 4.1) show that the EU-27’s employment rate for men (73.0 %) was lower than in most of the G20 members in 2018, although it was somewhat higher than in Turkey and Brazil and considerably higher than in South Africa. Elsewhere, employment rates for men ranged from 73.9 % in India to 80.1 % in Indonesia, with Japan (83.9 %) above this range. For women, the EU-27 employment rate of 62.3 % was higher than in a majority of the other G20 members, although a higher proportion of women were employed in the United States (16-64 years), Russia, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom, with a peak of 71.0 % recorded in Canada. By contrast, employment rates for women were below 50 % in Mexico, South Africa, Turkey and India, and were lowest in Saudi Arabia at 17.9 %.

The gender gap for the employment rate was 10.7 percentage points in favour of men across the EU-27, with the United States (16-74 years), Russia, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada reporting narrower gaps. By far the largest gender gaps were in India and Saudi Arabia, where the employment rates for men were 53.0 points higher than those for women in the former and 60.5 points higher in the latter.

Focusing on older workers, defined here as those aged 55-64 years, Figure 4.2 presents information for an age group that may have lower employment rates because of early retirement or because of difficulties finding employment after being unemployed. In the EU-27, the overall employment rate for persons aged 55-64 years was 57.8 % in 2018, some 9.9 percentage points lower than the employment rate for the whole of the working-age population. The gender gap in employment rates for older workers was 13.4 points in the EU-27, somewhat larger than the gap for recorded for the working-age population. These two characteristics — a lower employment rate for older workers and a larger gender gap for older workers — were common to most G20 members. Indonesia, South Korea and India were the only G20 members to report a higher employment rate for older workers, while only in Turkey and Saudi Arabia was the gender gap narrower for older workers.

Employment rates according to the highest completed level of education are shown in Figure 4.3, though restricted to the age group 25-64 years in order to focus on the adult working-age population after the vast majority of people have completed their initial education. Among the G20 members, all recorded a lower adult employment rate for the group of persons having completed at a basic level of education (at most a lower secondary level of education); equally, each of the G20 members recorded a higher adult employment rate for the group of persons having completed an advanced level of education (tertiary education). The difference between the employment rates for these two different levels of education was 30.1 percentage points across the EU-27 in 2018; this gap was only higher in South Africa (40.7 points), whereas it was less than 15.0 points in Mexico, South Korea, Saudi Arabia (2016 data) and Indonesia (2017 data).

In 2018, the share of employees (aged 15-64 years) in the EU-27 with a temporary contract was 15.5 %. The share of temporary employees varies greatly among other G20 members: the highest percentages of employees having a temporary contract were recorded in Indonesia (78.8 %) and India (77.0 %), followed by Mexico (53.3 %). Elsewhere the share was below 15 %. The lowest shares of temporary contracts — all below 10 % — were observed in Russia (7.8 %), Japan (7.5 %; 2015 data for employees aged 15 years and over) and the United Kingdom (5.5 %).

A comparison of the incidence of temporary employment between men and women shows that the gender gap was relatively small in the EU-27 in 2018, with the share for women 1.2 percentage points higher than for men. Among the non-EU G20 members only the United Kingdom recorded a narrower gap (0.7 points), also with a higher share for women. Equally, Canada, South Africa, South Korea and Japan (2015 data) recorded higher shares of temporary employment among women than among men, while the reverse was true for the remaining G20 members (see Figure 4.4). The largest gender differences were in India (where the share of temporary employment was 5.9 points higher among men than women) and Japan (where the gap was 5.0 points, with a higher share for women).

Unemployment rates

The unemployment rate is calculated as the number of unemployed persons as a proportion of economically active persons (otherwise referred to as the labour force, comprising all employed and unemployed persons). In 2018, the unemployment rate for persons aged 15-74 years in the EU-27 was 7.3 %. Among the other G20 members, the unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and over ranged in 2018 from 2.4 % in Japan to 6.0 % in Saudi Arabia, with Argentina (9.2 %; main cities and metropolitan areas only), Turkey (10.9 %), Brazil (12.3 %) and South Africa (26.9 %) above this range.

In the EU-27, unemployment rates for men and women were relatively similar, 7.6 % for women and 7.0 % for men in 2018 (see Figure 4.5). In most of the G20 members, the difference between the unemployment rates for men and women was also less than 1.0 percentage points in 2018, generally with a slightly higher rate for men than for women. By contrast, larger gender gaps, always with a higher unemployment rate for women, were observed in Argentina (2.3 points), Brazil (3.4 points), South Africa (3.9 points), Turkey (4.3 points) and Saudi Arabia (19.7 points). Saudi Arabia recorded the second lowest unemployment rate for men (2.9 %), higher only than that in Japan (2.6 %), combined with the second highest unemployment rate for women (22.6 %), lower only than the rate in South Africa (29.1 %).

In a small majority of G20 members, unemployment rates in 2018 were highest among persons (aged 15 years and over) who had completed at most a basic level of education. However, in Indonesia the highest unemployment rate was recorded among persons having completed at most an intermediate level of education, while in India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia (2014 data) and South Korea the highest unemployment rates were recorded among persons having completed an advanced level of education; in Turkey the unemployment rates were the same for people with intermediate and advanced levels of education and lower for those with a basic level (see Figure 4.6).

In 6 of the 13 G20 members for which a complete set of data are available, the lowest unemployment rates were observed among persons who had completed an advanced level of education. In another six, the lowest rate was recorded among persons having completed at most a basic level of education; Russia was the exception, as its lowest unemployment rate was observed for persons having completed at most an intermediate level of education.

Persons who have been unemployed for one year or more are considered as long-term unemployed. Prolonged periods of unemployment may be linked with reduced employability of the unemployed person, while lengthy periods of unemployment may have a sustained impact on an individual’s income and social conditions. Among the G20 members, South Korea and Mexico reported that long-term unemployment accounted for less than 2.0 % of all unemployed persons in 2018, while in Indonesia and Canada this share was also below 6.0 % (see Figure 4.7). Elsewhere, the share of the long-term unemployed in total unemployment ranged from 13.4 % in the United States (persons aged 16 years and over) to over 40 % in Saudi Arabia (2016 data) and the EU-27, while the highest share was recorded in South Africa at 68.9 %.

Figure 4.8 focuses on the youth unemployment rate, in other words the unemployment rate for persons aged 15-24 years. It should be remembered that a large share of persons in this age range are outside the labour market and are therefore not economically active. For example, young people are more likely to be studying full-time and therefore not available for work, while some may undertake other activities outside of the labour market, such as travel or voluntary work.

Among the G20 members, South Africa and Brazil had the highest unemployment rates for young men in 2018. In South Africa, almost half (49.2 %) of the male youth labour force was unemployed, while in Brazil the rate was just over one quarter (25.3 %). The EU-27’s unemployment rate for young men (16.5 %) was close to the median for the G20 members shown in Figure 4.8 and this was also the case for the youth unemployment rate for women (15.7 %). Saudi Arabia (62.6 %) and South Africa (58.8 %) had the highest unemployment rates for young women among the G20 members. Three G20 members reported unemployment rates both for young men and for young women below 10.0 % in 2018: Japan, Mexico and the United States, with the rate for young women in Canada also below 10.0 %.

Within the EU-27, there was relatively little difference in youth unemployment rates when looking at figures by sex, with the rate for young men 0.8 percentage points higher than the rate for young women in 2018. Several G20 members reported much higher youth unemployment rates for women than for men: indeed, rates for young women were between 6.9 and 9.6 points higher than those for young men in Argentina (main cities and metropolitan areas only), Turkey, Brazil and South Africa, with this gap reaching 42.7 points in Saudi Arabia.

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5. Living conditions

Households

Many statistical analyses of social and living conditions focus on households, in other words a person or group of persons living together (but separate from others), regardless of whether they are family members or not. Many factors influence household formation, for example, marriage, divorce, fertility and life expectancy, as well as geographical mobility, economic and cultural factors.

Many countries compile detailed information on households every 5 or 10 years, through a census or inter census survey and so the most recent data on household composition for several G20 members often refers to a reference year around 2010 or 2015. Figure 5.1 shows that more than one quarter of all households in Japan (2015 data), the EU-27 (2018 data), the United Kingdom (2018 data), Canada (2016 data), South Korea (2015 data), the United States (2010 data) and Russia (2010 data) were single person households, whereas this was the case for less than one tenth of all households in Mexico (2010 data), Indonesia (2010 data) and India (2011 data). Households composed of five or more persons were relatively uncommon in the United Kingdom, the EU-27, South Korea, Japan, Canada and Russia, all reporting that less than one tenth of households were this large; by contrast, nearly half (49.5 %) of all Indian households were composed of at least five people.

In Brazil (2014 data) and China (2010 data), single person households and large households were both relatively uncommon, with more than two thirds of all households composed of two to four people, as was nearly the case in South Korea despite its relatively high share of single person households.

Figure 5.2 presents a similar analysis focusing on types of households rather than a simple count of the number of household members. In 2018, one third (32.8 %) of private households in the EU-27 were composed of a single person (normally an adult) living alone and more than one quarter (28.8 %) were composed of two adults living without children (see Figure 5.2).

The combined share of households composed of a single person or two adults living without children was 61.6 % in the EU-27, the same share as in the United Kingdom and this was higher than in any of the other G20 members, the next highest cumulative share being 54.9 % in the United States. Consequently, the combined share of households composed of a single person with children and households composed of two adults with children in the EU-27 was relatively low, at 25.4 %, lower than in any of the non-EU G20 members. By contrast, these two common types of household with children made up more than half of all households in Mexico (55.1 %) and Brazil (51.6 %).

Social protection expenditure

Social protection encompasses all actions by public or private bodies intended to relieve households and individuals from the burden of a defined set of risks or needs. Figure 5.3 shows the level of social protection expenditure relative to gross domestic product (GDP) for the G20 members in 2007 and 2017. The EU-27 recorded the highest expenditure on social protection (using this measure) in 2017 (28.2 % of GDP), ahead of the United Kingdom and Japan (2015 data) which were the only other G20 members with ratios above 20 %. Mexico recorded social protection expenditure of 7.5 % (2016 data), the lowest among the non-EU G20 members. In these eight countries, social protection expenditure relative to GDP increased between the years shown in Figure 5.3, as it also did in the EU-27. The largest increases in percentage point terms were in Japan (4.2 points; 2007-2015), South Korea (3.5 points) and the United States (3.0 points).

Household income

Figure 5.4 presents the distribution of income based on income shares, showing the proportion of all income received by the 20 % of the population with the highest incomes (the top or highest quintile), the proportion received by the 20 % of the population with the lowest incomes (the bottom or lowest quintile), and the proportion received by the three intermediate quintiles. The proportion of income received by the highest quintile was just under two fifths (38.3 %) in the EU-27 in 2017; in all of the other G20 members this proportion exceeded two fifths. Mexico (2016 data) and Brazil reported that the highest quintile received more than half of all income, with this share even higher in South Africa, as the highest quintile accounted for more than two thirds (68.2 %; 2014 data) of all income.

A commonly used measure for studying income distribution is the income quintile share ratio, which is calculated as the ratio of the proportion of income received by the highest quintile compared with the proportion received by the lowest quintile. Based on the data presented in Figure 5.4, this ratio ranged, among the G20 members, from 4.9 in the EU-27 and 5.4 in the United Kingdom to 9.4 in the United States (2016 data), with Mexico (11.1; 2016 data), Brazil (18.1) and South Africa (28.4; 2014 data) above this range.

The Gini coefficient is another measure of income distribution. It shows the extent to which the distribution of income deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A coefficient of 0 expresses perfect equality where everyone has the same income, while a coefficient of 100 expresses full inequality where only one person has all the income.

In 2017, the EU-27 had a Gini coefficient of 30 which was lower than in any of the non-EU G20 members (see Figure 5.5). Elsewhere the United Kingdom, Australia (2014 data), Russia (2015 data), Indonesia and China (2016 data) also recorded coefficients below 40. The highest Gini coefficients among the G20 members were recorded in Brazil (53) and South Africa (63; 2014 data), confirming the relatively high inequality of income distribution observed through the income quintile share ratio.

Figure 5.6 shows the proportion of people at risk of poverty (hereafter referred to as the poverty rate), calculated as the proportion of the population with an income (after taxes and transfers) below the poverty threshold, where the threshold is set in each country as 60 % of the median income level (again, after taxes and transfers). In 2017, the EU-27 had the lowest poverty rate among the G20 members, at 16.9 %. Other G20 members with a poverty rate around or below one fifth were the United Kingdom (17.0 %), Canada (19.0 %), Australia (19.9 %; 2016 data) and Russia (20.1 %; 2016 data), while the rate was one quarter or higher in the United States (25.0 %) and Turkey (25.2 %; 2015 data), and closer to one third in South Africa (32.0 %; 2015 data).

Among persons aged 65 years and over the poverty rate in the EU-27 was 14.7 % in 2017, therefore lower than the overall rate for the total population. This situation was quite unusual, in that the only other G20 members to record a lower poverty rate for older people (than for the total population) were South Africa and the United Kingdom, although the two rates were almost the same in the latter. Particularly large differences between the overall poverty rate and that for older people were observed in South Korea and Australia. As noted above, Australia had one of the lowest overall poverty rates among the G20 members but the second highest poverty rate for older people (41.8 %; 2016 data), lower only than in South Korea (52.2 %). The lowest poverty rates for older people were recorded in the EU-27 (14.7 %) and the United Kingdom (16.9 %).

Household expenditure

Household consumption expenditure is the expenditure made by households to acquire goods and services and includes payments of indirect taxes (VAT and excise duties). Figure 5.7 provides information on the distribution of household consumption expenditure for various purposes. Factors such as culture, income, weather, household composition, economic structure and degree of urbanisation can all potentially influence expenditure patterns. In most G20 members the highest proportion of expenditure was normally devoted to food, non-alcoholic beverages and tobacco on one hand or housing (including also expenditure for water and fuels) on the other. A notable exception to this general pattern was the United States where household expenditure on health had the highest share. The share of expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages was particularly low in the United States, as it was to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

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6. Digital society

Broadband subscriptions

Broadband telecommunications transfer data at high speeds. The technologies most widely used for fixed broadband internet access are digital subscriber line (DSL) and its variations (xDSL), cable modem (connection to a local television line) or fibre.

Relative to population size, the number of fixed broadband subscriptions among the G20 members was quite diverse (see Figure 6.1). South Korea had 42 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2018, followed by the United Kingdom with 40 and Canada with 39. Several other G20 members — the EU-27, the United States, Japan, Australia and China — reported between 29 and 34 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. At the other end of the ranking, Turkey, Brazil and Mexico (15 or 16 per 100 inhabitants) had fixed broadband subscription rates that were close to the world average (14 per 100 inhabitants) while Indonesia, South Africa and India had 3, 2 and 1 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants respectively. Between 2008 and 2018, all G20 members reported growth in fixed broadband subscriptions relative to population size, with the strongest growth in absolute terms reported for China (an extra 22 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants), Saudi Arabia, Russia (both 16 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants more), the EU-27 and the United Kingdom (both 12 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants more).

Internet use

ICTs have become widely available to the general public, both in terms of accessibility as well as cost. By 2018 internet use had become almost universal in several G20 members, for example South Korea, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia where respectively 96 %, 95 % and 93 % of people had used the internet within the three months prior to being surveyed, as had 91 % of individuals in Japan and Canada (2017 data), 87 % of individuals in the United States and Australia (both 2017 data), 84 % in the EU-27 and 81 % in Russia (see Figure 6.2). Around half (51 %) of individuals worldwide had used the internet within the three months prior to being surveyed, with only Indonesia (40 %) and India (34 %; 2017 data) reporting lower shares among the G20 members.

Between 2008 and 2018, the share of people having used the internet within the three months prior to being surveyed increased worldwide by 28 percentage points. In terms of the growth of internet use the G20 members can be split into two groups: those that had shares in 2008 that were already above 50 % recorded growth between 2008 and 2018 that was slower than the world average; those with lower shares of internet use in 2008 reported growth above the world average. Particularly rapid increases between 2008 and 2018 were observed for Saudi Arabia (up 57 points), Russia (54 points), South Africa (48 points; 2008-2017), Argentina (46 points; 2008-2017) and Mexico (44 points). For comparison, the increase in the EU-27 was 25 points while the United States had the smallest increase (up 13 points; 2008-2017) among G20 members.