“Over the next 12-15 years, 1.2 billion young people in the emerging markets will become eligible for a job in the sense that they will come to the age of 18. And yet those very same economies are currently projected to produce around 400 million jobs.”
President, World Bank Group
Said Jan 22, 2026Deadline Dec 31, 2041World Economic Forum annual meeting, Davos, 22 January 2026 (Business Today report of Bloomberg interview)
Banga has repeated the same demographic-versus-jobs gap (1.2 billion entrants against roughly 400-420 million projected jobs) throughout 2026; the outcome cannot be assessed until the late 2030s.