India’s young can power the world’s ageing economies

Opinion India's young can power the world's ageing economies The global economy is entering a period of profound demographic transition.

Key points

• 4 min readSep 9, 2026 06: 21 AM IST First published on: Sep 9, 2026 at 06: 21 AM IST.
• Khanna is founding chair, Global Skills Mobility Association of India.
• Singapore's work-permit system, Hong Kong's helper and skilled-worker system, and the Gulf's kafala-linked systems recognise that temporariness, not restriction, is what has created large-scale labour mobility politically sustainable.
• India's ambition should be to become the global hub for trusted talent mobility.
• For decades, countries have leveraged their natural resources as instruments of economic and geopolitical influence.

India's ambition should be to become the global hub for trusted talent mobility. (AI Image). Written by: Ajay Khanna, Arnab Bhattacharya.

Meanwhile, the global economy is entering a period of profound demographic transition. Throughout advanced economies, declining fertility rates, ageing populations, and shrinking workforces are creating structural labour shortages that curtail economic expansion. Healthcare systems are struggling to recruit nurses and caregivers. Infrastructure programmes require skilled technicians and tradespeople. Digital economies continue to demand engineers, coders, and specialised professionals.

India is placed uniquely. For decades, countries have leveraged their natural resources as instruments of economic and geopolitical influence. The Gulf economies applied oil. Australia built strength around coal, iron ore, and uranium. China leveraged its control over rare earth minerals. India's greatest strategic resource may well be raw talent. In a rapidly ageing world, India has the largest reservoir of young human capital. As per the UN's population estimates, there are 450 million Indians at present aged between 18 and 35 years. In practice, a significant share of this generation is English-speaking, digitally literate, culturally adaptable, and globally connected. Most importantly, they possess a level of collective aspiration unmatched in modern economic history. Nevertheless, raw talent alone is not enough. Language capability, technical training, certification, cultural preparedness and professional discipline are needed for Indian talent to thrive in global markets.

While simultaneously strengthening India's soft power and international influence, if India can prepare its youth for global workforce participation, Indian workers can become catalysts of economic expansion throughout ageing societies, through flows of remittances and talent. This is why global skills mobility must now be viewed not simply as migration policy, but as a strategic pillar of economic diplomacy, workforce development, and international cooperation.

Notably, the significance of this opportunity is already visible. India received over $110.47 billion in worker remittances in FY 2025-26, a 26 per cent growth compared to the previous year. The outdated narrative of "brain drain" is increasingly giving way to a more sophisticated reality of "brain circulation".

But this opportunity cannot be built on fragmented recruitment systems or opaque intermediaries. The future must rest on trusted institutions, ethical mobility frameworks, worker protection, transparent standards, and international partnerships. None of this can be built without confronting an uncomfortable reality: Political appetite for migration is shrinking in the economies that need workers most. Throughout much of Europe, parties running on explicitly anti-immigration platforms – from Germany's AfD to Austria's Freedom Party – have moved from the margins into administration, and "remigration" has entered political vocabulary.

Circular mobility – temporary, socially accretive, and economically expansive – offers a genuinely different proposition, distinct from the OECD's recent migration experience, and the evidence that it works politically as well as economically already exists. Singapore's work-permit system, Hong Kong's helper and skilled-worker system, and the Gulf's kafala-linked systems recognise that temporariness, not restriction, is what has created large-scale labour mobility politically sustainable. Governments have a critical role in negotiating mobility agreements, harmonising standards, and ensuring worker welfare. Industry must move beyond short-term placement targets toward long-term workforce development.

India's ambition should be to become the global hub for trusted talent mobility. In the coming decades, nations that can reliably produce globally employable talent at scale will possess a decisive strategic advantage. India has the demographic strength, the aspiration, and the human capability to lead this transformation. The question is how rapidly it can build the institutions, standards, and strategic frameworks required to convert this demographic moment into a lasting national advantage. Notably, the answer will shape not only the future of millions of Indians overseas and at home but additionally the influence India will wield going forward.

Khanna is founding chair, Global Skills Mobility Association of India. Bhattacharya is CEO, Global Access to Talent from India Foundation.

Taken together, the developments around india's young can power the world's ageing economies point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.