Surge in retired population stokes fears for New Zealand state pension

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The number of New Zealanders aged 65 and over is accelerating faster than any other group, according to government figures out Wednesday, prompting renewed warnings that the state pension system is becoming unsustainable.

The New Zealand population aged 65-plus had doubled in the last 30 years to reach 635,200, going from 10 percent to 14 percent of the population, and it was likely to double again by 2040, according to Statistics New Zealand.

"The first of the baby boomers (those born from 1946 to 1965) turned 65 in 2011 and we will see this group leading continued growth in our older age groups in the years to come," population statistics manager Andrea Blackburn said in a statement.

The figures prompted main opposition Labor Party to criticize the government for its promise to keep the state superannuation ( super) age at 65, and pledge to steadily raise the retirement age to 67 by 2020.

"The cost of super will be more than putting our children through the entire education system from early childhood to university, in just two years," Labor Finance spokesperson David Parker said in a statement.

"Since 2008 super costs have ballooned from 7.3 billion to 10.2 billion NZ dollars (5.82 billion to 8.13 billion U.S. dollars). With our retired population set to double in two and a half decades, we need to get a plan in place now so that super can be protected for all."

New Zealand's estimated population was 4.47 million at the end of June, a rise of 0.9 percent from the previous year.

Natural increase -- the number of births minus deaths -- was 29, 800, the lowest for a June year since 2005, mainly because of a lower number of births, according to Statistics New Zealand.

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