Abstract
Created with focus on aiding in the governance of the International Finance System, the G20 has progressively expanded its agenda to encompass social and environmental issues, besides an enlarged economic portfolio. The sequence from 2022 to 2025, with four Global South presidencies, Indonesia, India, Brazil and South Africa -three also BRICS members, has raised expectations for a more balanced and effective view to not only pressing sustainable development issues, but also a broader consideration of “the Rest”, a set of more than 170 countries spread around the planet.
In fact, how representative are the 19 members of the G20 is a question always present and that should not be forgotten. If in terms of population and GDP, they indeed amount to the lion’s share of both world totals, in many other dimensions they fail to qualify as representative. This Note is not going to discuss representation issues, but rather call attention to a key variable, demographics, where the G20 amounts to an at least biased representation, a partially diversified and peculiar sample. A shortcoming with important consequences as regards both standpoints and conclusions, if concern is over world policies, neither select nor class-specific.
Section 2 is a brief overview of the G20 demographics, showing they represent, with exceptions, a special kind of demographic regime: ageing or close to populations. Section 3 elaborates on the implications of the bias while section 4 concludes, with suggestions to improve on this situation.
Key words: Demographics, G20, Birth Rate, Death Rate, Economy, Financial Crisis, Social and Environmental Issues