A/HRC/42/43/Add.1 as fertility, nuptial patterns and family formation, indicate that Uruguay is experiencing a second demographic transition.2 7. Currently, around 14 per cent of the population is over 64; this age group is expected to increase to about 22 per cent by 2050 and 31 per cent by 2100, as fertility continues to decline and life expectancy increases. 3 According to projections, the age group with the most expansion in the 2021 census will be 80 years and older. Returning retired Uruguayans, who left the country in the 1960s when there was a significant amount of international migration from Uruguay, also increase the number of persons aged 65 and over.4 8. The population of Uruguay is highly urbanized. Metropolitan Montevideo accounts for almost half of the country’s population, with about 1.6 million inhabitants. 9. The demographic transition also represents an opportunity for Uruguay, which is going through a period marked by the highest percentage of the population of working age with the capacity to generate savings. The demographic dividend makes it possible to increase the levels of investment in the economy and consequently, given the greater endowment of capital and labour, enter a path of sustained growth. It is necessary to ensure the institutional and financial conditions that promote this greater saving and channel it towards investment, in order to increase the productivity of the economy and sustain gross domestic product growth per capita.5 10. Uruguay ranks high on the Global AgeWatch Index 2015, at 27 overall.6 It ranks best in the income security domain (8), with the highest pension income coverage (92.7 per cent) and lowest old age poverty rate (8.3 per cent) in the region. It ranks moderately in the health domain (37), slightly below the regional average for life expectancy at 60. It also ranks moderately in the capability domain (38). The country ranks lowest in the enabling environment domain (57), with below regional average values for two out of four indicators: safety (40 per cent) and satisfaction with public transport (52 per cent). III. Administrative, legal, institutional and policy framework 11. Uruguay has ratified or acceded to almost all the human rights instruments of relevance to older persons. It is a party to the main international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Since 2013, it has also been a party to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which allows individuals or groups of individuals to submit communications to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights alleging violations of the rights 2 3 4 5 6 Daniel Ciganda and Alain Gagnon, “You can’t go home again. Independent living in Uruguay in the context of delayed transitions to adulthood”, Revista Latinoamericana de Población, vol. 6, No. 4 (January–June 2010); Tomáš Sobotka, “The diverse faces of the second demographic transition in Europe”, Demographic Research, vol. 19, No. 8 (July 2008); Ron Lesthaeghe, “The second demographic transition: a concise overview of its development”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 111, No. 51 (23 December 2014). International Monetary Fund (IMF), Uruguay: Selected Issues, IMF Country Report No. 17/29 (Washington, D.C., 2017), p. 49. Pablo Salazar and Lorna Jenkins, “Social protection in Latin America: a description of eight countries” (United Nations Population Fund, Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office), p. 5. Cecilia González and Marisa Bucheli, “Bono demográfico y envejecimiento en Uruguay”, Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Documento de Trabajo No. 10/14 (Montevideo, Universidad de la República, 2014); Tim Miller, Paul Saad and Ciro Martínez, “Population ageing, demographic dividend and gender dividend: assessing the long term impact of gender equality on economic growth and development in Latin America”, in Demographic Dividends: Emerging Challenges and Policy Implications, Roberta Pace and Roberto Ham-Chande, eds. (Springer International Publishing Switzerland, 2016); Rofman, Amarante and Apella, Demographic Change in Uruguay. See www.helpage.org/global-agewatch/population-ageing-data/country-ageingdata/?country=Uruguay. 3