Trends Identified
Growing immigration and problems of integrating minorities
Immigration in the EU will continue but decelerate between 2010 and 2060. The EU annual net inflows are projected to rise from about 1,043,000 people in 2010 (0.2% of the EU population) to 1,332,500 by 2020 and thereafter declining to 945,000 people by 2060. The cumulated net migration to the EU over the entire projection period is 60.7 million. Migration trends vary across the EU Member States. Net migration flows are likely to be concentrated to a few destination countries: Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Countries currently experiencing a net outflow are projected to taper off or reverse in the coming decades.65 Effectively integrating migrants in their host society also presents challenges for integration policy, particularly in view of diversity and minorities. Migrants might be challenged by labour market and social integration barriers.
2014
Challenges at the horizon 2025
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Growing healthy in a sluggish world
How can Singapore grow more dynamic and resilient as an economy, given concerns about sluggish global growth and the implications for Singapore.
2017
Foresigth
Singapore, The Centre for Strategic Futures
Growing global and EU urbanisation
In 1950 only one in three people in the world lived in urban areas. By 2007 every other person lived in an urban environment. The projected urban share of global population is estimated to rise further to 60% in 2030. The figure in Europe is 2/3 rds of the European population living in urban areas (see graph), and this share continues to grow with nearly 80% living in urban areas by 2030.85 While the situation varies throughout the EU, there are big contrasts between rural and urban communities.
2014
Challenges at the horizon 2025
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Growing erosion of European solidarity
The EU Cohesion Policy for the period 2013-2020 is an important element to boost public and private investment and contribute to economic growth, employment, sustainable development and social cohesion in the EU and the LRAs. However, cash strapped LRAs are challenged to have sufficient access to the necessary financial resources to be able to use the EU Cohesion Policy effectively.43 The challenge is related to more decentralisation of key powers from central to subnational governments; however, this trend has not been followed by the transfer of financial resources.
2014
Challenges at the horizon 2025
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Growing dominance of relatively young digital tech corporations
Relatively young digital technology corporations now dominate the world’s top ten companies, with Apple heading the list, followed by Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook18.
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Growing demand for food, water, and energy
A growing middle class and gains in empowerment will lead the demand for food to rise by 35%, water by 40%, and energy by 50%, government research suggested. Regions with extreme weather patterns — like rain-soaked Singapore or muggy Mumbai — will get more extreme due to the effects of climate change. Dry areas such as northern Africa and the US Southwest will feel the effects of diminished precipitation especially hard. We will still have enough resources to avoid energy scarcity by 2030; however, whether those resources include fracking or renewable forms like solar and wind is yet to be seen.
2017
4 mega-trends that could change the world by 2030
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Growing competition and the rise of emerging powers and relative decline of the West calling for a redistribution of global power and the EU's role in international organisations and the global diplomatic stage
By 2030, the economic power will have shifted from the West to the East and the US, the EU and Japan’s share of the global economy could shrink significantly— reversing their importance relative to the emerging world. As a result, the calls for rebalancing and more effective global coordination are one of the great challenges of current times. Under such trend, the need for cooperation in the framework of WTO as well as materialisation of a single European voice in multilateral institutions becomes imperative.
2014
Challenges at the horizon 2025
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Growing availability of big data and the data deluge
Data in the world is doubling every 18 months and has become the ‘21st Century’s new raw material’.95 The overall trend is that the world is becoming more and more interconnected by globally and continuously available data.
2014
Challenges at the horizon 2025
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Growing and ageing population
The analysis of qualitative and quantitative data on demographic change helped identify three major trends as particularly relevant. First, the global demographic profile will be characterised by population growth, led by middle-income and lower-income countries, about which the literature and projections strongly agree. The second major demographic trend analysed in the literature has to do with population ageing, initially in high-income countries and subsequently in the rest of the world, starting with middle-income countries. The literature points to a third trend that is likely to develop in the European Union and other developed economies in the future, namely transformations in the structure of families and household sizes.
2013
Europe's Societal Challenges: An analysis of global societal trends to 2030 and their impact on the EU
RAND Corporation
Growing abroad: East meets west
Nearly half the CEOs interviewed for our survey are involved in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, but the stereotypes of acquiror and target are set to change.
2007
10th Annual global CEO Survey
PWC