Human population trends are a key factor in sustainable development. We study and project how the changing composition of population matters for social, economic and the environmental change and how human health and well-being are being affected.

Human population matters for sustainable development in two important ways. First, it is an agent of change, bringing about many of the environmental, economic, and social changes that continually challenge the sustainability of our current development paths. Second, the human population and its living conditions are the ultimate objects of development, with long-term human survival, health and well-being serving as criteria for judging whether or not development is sustainable.

Latest news

17 September 2020

COVID-19 could cause declines in life expectancy in 2020 in severely affected areas

A new analysis of period life expectancy around the world shows that the COVID-19 pandemic could cause a short-term decline in life expectancy in many regions of the world. More

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Upcoming event

30 Nov 2020 - 01 Dec 2020

Demographic aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences

IIASA's World Population Program is co-organizer of the Wittgenstein Centre (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna) Confere... More

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Latest publication

Sanchez-Romero M, Lee RD, & Fürnkranz-Prskawetz A (2020). Redistributive effects of different pension systems when longevity varies by socioeconomic status. The Journal of the Economics of Ageing 17: e100259. DOI:10.1016/j.jeoa.2020.100259.

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Research projects

Demographic perspectives of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic

Applying demographic concepts and methodological tools, researchers at IIASA's World Population Program (POP) in collaboration with Wittgenstein Centre researchers, international collaborators and stakeholders have been working on different projects looking at the vulnerability dimension and differential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. More

Future Migration Scenarios for Europe

The project will focus on understanding the patterns, motivations and modalities of migration at multiple geographical scales, from international through regional to the local, and on imagining possible futures. More

Human Capital and Economic Performance

By including educational attainment as demographic dimension in addition to age and sex, the message derived from the Demographic Dividend Model changes for describing the effect of demographic change on economic growth. More

IIASA-JRC Centre of Expertise on Population and Migration

The Centre of Expertise on Population and Migration is a research partnership between IIASA's World Population Program and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre that provides science-based knowledge on migration and demography to support EU policy. More

Population Dynamics and Global Human Capital

The Population and Human Capital project aims to more fully understand the dynamics of an improving educational composition of the population and to demonstrate the long-term implications of near-term investments in education. More

Quantifying Migration Scenarios for Better Policy

The overarching aim of this project is to produce comprehensive, multi-perspective and robust quantitative migration scenarios to support various areas of European migration policy, based on the cutting-edge developments in conceptualising, explaining, estimating and forecasting migration. More

Reassessing Aging from a Population Perspective

The Reassessing Aging from a Population Perspective (Re-Aging) project will develop new approaches to the study of age and aging that are appropriate for 21st century conditions. More

The Demography of Sustainable Human Wellbeing

This project aims to develop new indicators for long-term human wellbeing that include feedbacks from environmental and other changes. It is funded through an ERC Advanced Grant awarded to Wolfgang Lutz. More

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Last edited: 17 August 2020