Australia’s population is forecast to grow slower and age faster than anticipated and the government will be forced to use deficit spending to pay for services for the next 40 years, the latest intergenerational report has found.

The brainchild of former treasurer Peter Costello, the intergenerational report, also known as the IGR, maps out what Australia will look like in four decades’ time, barring any major upheavals or sudden policy switches and is released every five years.