A leading American economist says the Isle of Man must consider its growing population issues if the country’s prosperity is to be preserved.
Although Manx residents are up to 30% better off than US citizens, Stephen Blackman says the ageing population could be destined to have a serious impact on the Island’s prosperity in future.
The RBS Group economist was addressing a gathering of finance professionals here.
He said the Isle of Man was entering a period when the proportion of the population who were not of working age would be on such a scale that local prosperity would be adversely affected, unless measures were taken to address the issue.
He told the audience that the Isle of Man’s standard of living was under threat simply from natural demographics.
He reached this conclusion through an analysis, which compared the wealth of the Isle of Man with the USA and competitor jurisdictions such as Jersey.
He concluded that, without an increase in population based on his research figures, the standard of living in terms of GDP per head is going to naturally fall.
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